For the better part of 2009, I’ve covered the grassroots movement by a group of preservationists and Yankee fans to save Gate 2 and incorporate it into the plans for Heritage Field. While the city officials say the plan is cost-prohibitive, the group claims Gate 2 could be saved for around $1 million. Now, with the Parks Department set to gain preliminary approval for its Heritage Field plans, the Gate 2 movement may be nearing a conclusion, but early reports indicate that Gate 2 will not be a part of the Heritage Field plans.

Benjamin Peim, writing for the Daily News, has more on this development:

The city Parks Department plans to seek preliminary approval next week for plans to commemorate the stadium at Heritage Field – the future park after the House That Ruth Built meets the wrecking ball. Gate 2 is not in the plans. “If it gets approved, I think we’re through,” said John Trush, one of the fans fighting to save the gate.

The Parks Department presented its plans last May to the Design Commission, which approves all permanent works of art, architecture and landscape architecture proposed on or over city property. It granted preliminary approval, with the caveat they make revisions to better incorporate the stadium’s history.

At next week’s meeting, with Gate 2 crusaders making their pitch, the commission will decide the department’s revised plans for the old Yankee Stadium. A Parks spokesman said the revised design will have some of the old stadium’s frieze, historical plaques and markers, and one of the baseball diamonds will follow the same alignment as the old infield.

At the heart of this debate is the city’s tendency to disregard its history. As I wrote in August, early Heritage Field plans basically ignored Yankee Stadium. Although a few plaques would commemorate the spot, no aspect of Yankee Stadium would have remained, and even the replacement fields would not align with the old Yankee Stadium infield.

For the city, this disregard for history is nothing new. Lower Manhattan contains few remnants of its 400-year-old history, and even newer landmarks — Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds — are nothing but memories we recognize from sepia-toned photographs. The Save the Gate 2 movement wanted to preserve an original part of old Yankee Stadium before it was too late. As Bronx borough historian Lloyd Ultan has repeated said, the preserved gate “would serve the same function for future generations as the Roman forums serve in Rome today.”

Now though, it is the proverbial bottom of the ninth. I’ll reserve judgment on the Parks Department’s final plans until they are released. The early word is somewhat promising but also a bit hypocritical. Although the Deparment claims that saving Gate 2 would be futile because the substantial parts of the gate date only to the 1970s renovation, most of the new plans seem to preserve Yankee Stadium II memories while glossing over the original stadium configuration. “The [Parks Department] argument falls down when you take a look at the [revised] plans for the site,” Ultan said. “Most of what they’re saving is from the 1970s structure.”

We might have to eulogize Gate 2 next week and tip our caps to those trying to save it. If the effort fails, it was a valiant one. Hopefully, the city won’t come to rue a mistake if it tears down the entire stadium while just giving a perfunctory nod to history. The House that Ruth Built deserves better.

Proponents say Gate 2 could be saved for $1 million. (Image via Save the Yankee Gate 2 Committee)

When we last checked in with the committee working to save the old Gate 2 and incorporate it into the design of Heritage Park, the movement had seemingly hit a cost problem. A few anonymous critics of the plan had leveled the charge that the effort would cost $10 million. While a nice idea, saving old Yankee Stadium’s Gate 2 would be cost prohibitive. Plus, they said, the gate was “significantly changed” during the 1970s renovations.

Today, the group hit back. In a press release, Mark Costello and John Trush, the two men spearheading the preservation effort, claim that it would cost just $1 million to save Gate 2 and that most of the gate is original. “Assessments we have received from several architects and structural engineering firms have determined preserving Gate 2 to be a simple/straightforward project,” the release reads. “They have estimated that the expense of its restoration would be approximately $1 million, a small fraction (less than 2%) of the overall cost to build Heritage Field.”

To those decrying the originality of the gate, Costello and Trush have done their homework. “Today Gate 2 is 80 percent original, even after the 1973-76 renovations,” they say. “Historical photographs, blueprints, historians, and baseball experts confirm this originality. The small modifications made to the upper portion of the Gate are compatible with the original 1920’s design and if retained in the preserved Gate, would allow it to include elements of the 1923 construction, the 1928 expansion and the 1976 modernization.”

More vital to the effort to earn support though is the revelation that the group could defray even these relatively minimal costs through volunteer work. “Discussions with several contractors indicate their willingness to volunteer services for this effort,” they announced. “Similar to the current Polo Grounds Staircase Project, fundraising through pledges can produce additional financial options. The sale of commemorative paving bricks also has the potential to defray much of this cost.” I would buy a commemorative brick in front of the old Yankee Stadium Gate 2.

The group also commented on the need to preserve something from the Gate, a theme I touched upon last time. If the city destroys all of Yankee Stadium in their efforts to build the park, we can’t get it back once we look around and realize our baseball history is gone. The City’s Design Commission has asked the Parks Department to reevaluate their plans for Heritage Field in an effort to “capture the historical significance of the original Yankee Stadium.” Gate 2, with its minimal upkeep costs, would be the perfect vehicle for that request.

In the end, this may be a movement without a big enough sponsor. While a Daily News poll in August found 78 percent of readers would support this plan even with a $10 million price tag, no one has stepped forward from the Yankees to embrace it. Craig Calcaterra today urged A-Rod to throw his weight behind it in the form of a public commitment of support and money. The Yankees could easily make the same gesture, and if $1 million is the true cost of this plan, neither A-Rod nor the Yanks would notice the money is missing.

On Monday, the group is going to meet with the Bronx Borough President, and leaders have been trying to drum up support from other local politicians. Meanwhile, with Gate 2 currently shrouded by construction netting, time is of the essence. Will the city destroy history or will cooler heads prevail before it is too late?

According to critics, the plan to save Gate 2 comes with a hefty price tag.

As the Yankee Stadium demolition continues apace, the effort to save Gate 2 is gaining traction. Yet, despite the increased publicity and focus on the preservation effort, critics contend that it is far too late and far too costly to save this bit of Bronx baseball history.

The latest development in this fight over parkland and the historic parts of Yankee Stadium comes to us via the Daily News. Today’s article sums up the current state of the movement, and it doesn’t sound as though things are falling into place for those of us who wish to see a part of Yankee Stadium incorporated into Heritage Park.

Eitan Gavis and Larry McShane talked to a few unnamed critics of the plan, and these naysayers point to the price and historical modifications of Gate 2. According to those who oppose the effort, it could cost up to $10 million to restore Gate 2 to its historical image and stabilize the gate so that it stands without the help of the existing stadium. These critics also contend that the gate was “significantly changed” during the renovations to the stadium in the 1970s.

According to the Daily News and previous reports, the Parks Department plans to leave the giant bat in place. There is, however, a functional aspect to it as it serves as a vent from the physical plant located below ground. The department will also incorporate some of the frieze into plans for Heritage Park.

Proponents of the plan though hit upon the real reasons for saving Gate 2. For too many years, we have simply destroyed baseball history, leaving plaques in out-of-the-way locations or home plates buried under parking lots. “We visit some of these places where the original field is gone, and all we have is a brass plaque saying, ‘This is where home plate was,'” Bill Turner, a supporter of the movement, said.

Lloyd Ultan, Bronx borough president, compared Yankee Stadium to some of the world’s more famous architectural and archeological ruins. “If you go to Rome, you can get some idea of what the Forum was like from the ruins,” Ultan said to the News. “If it’s feasible, it’s worthy to save that part.”

As I said last week when I wrote about the plans for the park, the Yankees and the City should figure out a way to better incorporate the old stadium into plans for Heritage Park. The team could front some of the money for preservation, and Save the Gate 2 could fundraise for it as well. Too late will we realize what is missing if the stadium is demolished with no eye toward both the future and the past.

Despite efforts, Heritage Park will not incorporate much of old Yankee Stadium. (Image via Save the Yankee Gate 2)

New York City is one of the oldest towns in the nation. Founded by the Dutch in 1624, it was the capital of the nation for five years and has been the country’s biggest city since 1790. Despite this legacy, though, the city is shockingly lacking in history.

Stroll around Lower Manhattan, some of the longest continuously settled lands in North America, and the history is from the late 1800s and not the mid-1700s. Instead of historic preservation mixed in with modern development, New York City has continually built over and on top of its history.

More immediately, our city’s ballpark history is marked with gone and nearly forgotten stadiums. All that remains of Ebbets Field is a housing project in Flatbush. The Polo Grounds is also a housing project, and Shea Stadium, no one’s favorite place to watch a game, is a parking lot.

Across the street from the current Yankee Stadium sits the old House that Ruth Built, an 85-year-old Baseball Cathedral. Sure, it was gut-renovated in the 1970s, and many old-time fans feel it lost its character then. But the truth remains that Yankee Stadium after the renovation saw its fair share of historic games.

When the Yankees announced plans to build a new home, the old stadium was to be turned into a park called Heritage Field. Supposedly, this new field would incorporate Yankee baseball history and serve as a living monument to the stadium. Now, though, as details about the city’s plans for the park come into view, little of Yankee Stadium will remain, and the park may serve more as a monument to what could have and should have been than to what was.

In the current issue of The New Yorker, Paul Goldberger penned a Talk of the Town piece on the future of Heritage Field. The Parks Department and the Yankees convened a summit to discuss ways to incorporate the stadium, but the outcome was less than appealing:

Now that the Yankees have moved to their new $1.5-billion ballpark, the question has arisen as to whether their former home ought to disappear as completely as Shea did. The city has promised to turn the site into a park, complete with three ball fields. But the current design calls for the entire stadium to be demolished, its history recalled mainly through a series of panels and plaques in the pavement…

[Park designer Gary Sorge] explained that one of the three ball fields would be set in roughly the position of the old Yankee Stadium diamond, but shifted slightly, so that second base would be atop the original home plate. The plans also called for the reuse of two thirty-foot-long panels of the old Stadium’s famous scalloped frieze. And the designers proposed painting two of the park’s field light posts to resemble foul poles.

[Bronx borough historian Lloyd] Ultan, the historian, was the first to respond. “What is missing from the design is the architecture of the Stadium itself,” he said, holding up a souvenir cookie tin shaped like the old Stadium. “Some people came to see me recently who were trying to save Gate 2, which has not been altered. Couldn’t we preserve that as a monument?”

“Our research showed that Gate 2 had been altered,” one of the planners said. “It would have to be restored.”

So then restore it, I say.

Later on during the meeting, Sherida Paulsen, a former head of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Committee, posed a good question. “Putting second base at home plate doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Why can’t home plate just be at home plate?”

In the end, the city should do more than create a park that sort of resembles Yankee Stadium while telling a story through staid plaques and panels in the pavement. They should be able to create a monument to a great ballpark while keeping the essence of the park alive. It is a challenge in urban planning, but after decades of tearing down history, it is one the city should meet.

Parks Department head Adrian Benepe would seem to agree. “Yankee Stadium has had papal Masses, Billy Graham’s crusade, championship boxing matches, and the rally when Nelson Mandela was freed,” Benepe said. “Why can’t we create a great new park that acknowledges all of this?”

Why can’t we, indeed.

Renderings of a proposed plan to save Yankee Stadium’s Gate 2. (Via Save the Yankee Gate 2)

In a little over a year, Yankee Stadium, the original House that Ruth Built, will be just a memory in the Bronx. Already, fans can see the dismantling of the stadium as they head on up to the new park in the Bronx, and in 2011, Heritage Park will bring greenery to the Bronx.

While the Yankees and the City have not shed many tears over the impending destruction of a baseball icon, a good number of fans are upset that the team has been so willing to discard such an important part of its past. To that end, a group of fans and baseball buffs have started a grassroots movement to Save Gate 2 and use it as a symbolic entrance to Heritage Park.

Last week, I spoke with Mark Costello, one of the leaders of the movement, and he walked me through the plans. In essence, the Yankees and the City would be saving a piece of the old stadium as well as the original ticket booths along 161st St. as a nod to history. Gate 2 is the old entrance to the left field area, and as the group’s website shows, it would not take much work to restore a part of the old stadium to the grandeur it once had. “It’s probably the coolest thing left from the old Stadium,” Costello said.

The group is drawing its inspiration from successful preservation projects around the nation. In Detroit, advocates saved a good portion of old Tiger Stadium. In Pittsburgh, parts of the original wall of Forbes Field remain in place. With a new park planned for the space, Costello believes the old gate would make for an appropriate and magnificent entrance.

Recently, Costello presented his plan to the Bronx’s Community Board 4 and the Parks Department. He said that board members seemed favorable to the proposal but recognizes the uphill battle he faces. “Time is of the essence,” he said to me when I noted the ongoing destruction of the old stadium.

Despite the time crunch, Costello and his supporters feel that Gate 2 could be left up with relative ease. One of the supporting walls is still in place, and the other could be easily constructed. Furthermore, since construction crews have yet to reach that side of the stadium, it’s certainly not too late to begin a preservation campaign.

For now, the group is focusing on grassroots efforts. “We’re trying to get out the word as best we can,” Costello said, “and we’re hoping to get the attention of the city government.”

Costello has yet to approach the Yankees. He fears the team will view this effort as taking away from the new stadium but will try to get the team on board when the time is right. ‘We’re not trying to have something that will compete with what they built,” he said, “but will enhance the experience.”

In the end, the group of fans who want to remember the past fear for the future. In a city that does a bad job of retaining and remember its past, the Yankees should go down the same path. “Future fans,” Costello said, “will regret that they missed the opportunity to do something meaningful.”