Friday, December 16, 2016

Stadium Lofts

Another great adaptive re-use project is also one of, if not the most unique, in Indiana and perhaps the United States. I am talking about Stadium Lofts on 16th St. in Indianapolis. It is so unique because it was a baseball stadium and now it is loft apartments.

Perry Stadium, named after Indianapolis Indians club owner Norm Perry, officially opened its doors with a baseball game on September 5, 1931. To support the war effort, Perry Stadium was re-named Victory Field in 1942. When Indianapolis native and former MLB player Owen J. Bush became the manager of the Indians in 1967, the stadium was re-named Bush Stadium.

The stadium was built by Pierre & Wright, and Osborn Engineering Company. Osborn Engineering Co. is well-known for its other ballparks that it helped build. The list includes the original Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Bush Stadium and Fenway Park are the only two still standing.

Throughout its life, the stadium was the home to several teams including the Indianapolis Clowns and ABCs of the Negro League, the Indianapolis Indians AAA Minor League ball club, and the Indianapolis Capitols of the Continental Football League. Henry "Hank" Aaron played inside the confines of the stadium with the Clowns. We all know what lied ahead for him... Other famous players such as Harmon Killebrew, and Al Lopez. Many players from the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine" played here.

The stadium was quirky, like many old ballparks. The lights, in my opinion, were awesome. They were not the conventional poles (Ref. ballparks.phanfare.com). There was a tepee in the outfield, an old manual scoreboard, and even wooden "cheap seats". Ivy grew on the outfield wall. Does that sound familiar? Wrigley Field liked the look so much that they copied it. All of this old park charm was enough for producers to decide to film "Eight Men Out" here in 1987.

Of course, all good things have to come to an end. The park was literally crumbling in its final years. Midway through the 1996 season, the Indians moved to a brand new park, which was named Victory Field. In 1997, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George bought the empty stadium and converted it into the 16th St. Speedway. The manual scoreboard was removed, the ivy on the walls was ripped off, and the tepee had to go. Tony Stewart raced here. The track brought in good revenue for the first couple years, probably because it was just down the road from IMS. It shut down as 16th Street Speedway in 2001.

The stadium sat abandoned, with the exception of vandals and urban explorers. In 2010 and 2011, it was used as a junk yard for the "Cash for Clunkers" program. In 2012, Core Redevelopment purchased the dilapidated stadium and went to work. They construed "Stadium Lofts", using the existing infrastructure and adding apartments where the seats would have been.  They kept the press bo, the light fixtures on the roof, and the electronic scoreboard which now looks like a manual scoreboard. A dirt colored  concrete diamond was stamped in the exact spot where the original was.

When you walk up to it, it still looks like a ballpark in the front. The limestone art-deco entrance still looks like it is ready to greet you for a ball game. The only issue I have is the fact that about 3/4 of the brick outfield brick wall was demolished and replaced with a black chain-link fence. Nonetheless, Stadium Lofts has given arguably the most famous Minor League park of all-time a new lease on life. Perhaps you can say Core Redevelopment hit a home run!

CHECK OUT:
http://ballparks.phanfare.com/2414556
http://ballparks.phanfare.com/2414556
Bob Busser, who is the creator of ballparks.phanfare is a pretty cool guy and fun to talk to. Go check out his amazing website.
http://www.coreredevelopment.com/apartments/stadium-lofts/
http://www.stevehardin.com/htm/16thst.htm

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