Engineering and other studies have delayed a plan to partially raze Tiger Stadium and build housing in its place, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said Monday.

Kilpatrick said he had expected the city to officially solicit developers to make over the property this week. But Detroit development officials told him earlier in the day they needed more time.

"We're moving more slowly than I had thought," he said.

Over the summer, the city Economic Development Corp. approved hiring companies to evaluate how to dismantle the stadium and determine what steps should be taken to address environmentally sensitive substances, such as asbestos and lead-based paint, that had been used to paint older sections of the ballpark.

"There's a difference in having a historic dismantling versus demolition," Kilpatrick said. "It's a little more complicated."

The request for proposals from developers should be issued in a few months, he said.

He added that the city also wants to ensure as much of the memorabilia as possible can be preserved from Tiger Stadium, which opened 94 years ago.
Demolishing most of the structure will cost $2 million to $5 million. The city hopes to recoup its expenses by selling the stadium piece by piece at auction.

Despite the delay, city officials and leaders of the Corktown Development Corp., the private nonprofit that helped Detroit figure out what to do with the stadium, remain in agreement.

"We still have consensus," Kilpatrick said, although he noted that some groups are opposed to redevelopment because they want the stadium fully preserved.

The mayor's plan calls for most of the stadium to be demolished to make way for a mixed-use development of 150 condos atop 40-50 retail shops on the 8.5-acre site.

The city also wants developers to maintain the original stadium entrance as a gateway and leave the baseball diamond as a park for Little League games and festivals.

Numerous critics have complained that the facility was allowed to deteriorate after the Tigers moved to Comerica Park.

Even though the plan is going slower than the mayor had hoped, residents and business owners near the ballpark are confident redevelopment will happen.

"This is really what's crucial for the community," said Ryan Cooley, a partner in Slows Bar-B-Que and one of the founders of O'Connor Real Estate, both on Michigan Avenue. "Tiger Stadium had been the biggest issue here, hands down, and I think that's kind of prevented people from doing stuff with their buildings."

Corktown resident Justine Hardy is optimistic that the move to replace much of the ballpark with stores and residential units will move forward -- unlike an earlier Kilpatrick administration plan to acquire the defunct Michigan Central Railroad Depot and convert it into a community justice center.

"Everyone can see the need for this," said Hardy, who owns a condo about five blocks from Tiger Stadium. "We just have to wait a little longer."