Dyer halts demolition of Tinker Field, for now

Faced with a public backlash, Mayor Buddy Dyer on Monday put the brakes on a plan to tear down the grandstands and buildings at historic Tinker Field at least for now.

The mayor said he had ordered a halt to the demolition that was scheduled to happen as soon as next month. He also asked architects to "look at all options to preserve the historic significance of Tinker Field."

Even so, the days of baseball at Tinker Field seem to be over. A renovation that's now in progress will enlarge the Citrus Bowl, encroaching into Tinker Field so much that it would no longer be suitable for America's pastime.

An aide to the mayor said the buildings and grandstand, or some part of them, could be preserved in some way as a monument to the Hall of Famers who played there and the day 50 years ago when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from the pitcher's mound at a civil rights rally.

Or it could still be demolished.

The reprieve gives time for community participation that never happened before the Dyer administration announced the demolition two weeks ago. That announcement caught many by surprise including city commissioners, who were told only a few days earlier.

"I can't support the demolition of Tinker Field.We get more public input on speed humps on a street than this process involving millions of dollars and the destruction of a historic asset, and I feel that is wrong," said Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who went on to blister the Dyer administration for a lack of transparency.

Two weeks ago, city officials said Tinker Field was in such disrepair, with substandard plumbing, sewer and electrical systems, that it would be too costly to fix. And even if it were renovated, the outfield would still be too small to host baseball.

Instead, the administration announced a plan to build a new ballpark on an adjacent parcel, McCracken Field, at an estimated cost of $3 million.

"The guiding principle regarding the future of Tinker Field was that this is an opportunity to build a facility that would restore a functioning baseball stadium to the area and to preserve the historic significance of Tinker Field," Dyer said Monday.

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Dyer halts demolition of Tinker Field, for now