Not only will 2008 mark the end of the iconic Yankee Stadium, the Mets will be getting a new stadium at the end of the season as well:
Standing in the numbing cold amid fluttering snowflakes, Jeff Wilpon expressed few warm, fuzzy feelings for Shea Stadium on Tuesday as he led a guided tour of Citi Field, the adjacent future home of the Mets.
The new stadium, more than a year away from opening, has taken shape in Flushing and can easily be envisioned complete.
Citi Field was largely monochromatic, with concrete and snow dominating the site, and the boxed-off area that home plate will occupy was serving as a makeshift garbage bin, littered with empty beverage bottles.
Still, in some ways Citi Field already has more charm than the stadium towering next door.
“There isn’t that much of Shea that we want to bring over,” said Wilpon, the Mets’ senior executive vice president. “Shea was a dual-purpose stadium in the ’60s, and it served its purpose.”
Wilpon said that the home run apple, a fan favorite at Shea that many feared would die along with the old stadium, would be about the only holdover to survive the move. He did say, however, that the apple may have a different design.
Also, the spots where the bases and home plate are at Shea will be marked in the parking lot that will take over that land.
The major news, however, was that there was no news. Citi Field is on schedule (set to be completed by Jan. 1, 2009, and open in April 2009) and on budget (about $800 million).
Last week, during a similar tour of the new Yankee Stadium by members of the news media, the club revealed that its project’s budget had increased and is now at about $1.2 billion.
Well, you know, that had to expand the owner’s skybox at the New Yankee Stadium so Steinbrenner’s ego would fit there.
