Save Gate 2 Project Starting To Get Some Media Coverage

I've mentioned the project to save Yankee Stadium's Gate 2 several times on this blog already. Well, for what I believe is the first time, a major newspaper wrote a story about the Gate 2 project when Steve Politi of The Star-Ledger wrote this article on Saturday:

The blue plywood construction walls are going up, and once they are in place, the original Yankee Stadium will begin to come down. The process will take months, and few of the fans streaming into the new ballpark realize what will remain of the old one when the demolition teams are done.

Nothing.

Not one foul pole. Not one bleacher seat. Yankee Stadium is about to become a ghost under the current plan, but before it does, several concerned fans are fighting to preserve something.

They want to save Gate 2, the most complete piece of the pre-renovated stadium that still exists, and turn it into an entrance to the parks and ballfields that will soon occupy the land.

Gate 2 would become a monument to the old ballpark, a spot where sentimental Yankee fans can take their grandchildren and tell them about seeing Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in a World Series game or Mickey Mantle run down a fly ball in center field.

It is a plan that makes too much sense to fail, because if it does, the city will lose one of its most famous landmarks. If it does, we'll only be left with photos, videos and memories.

If replacing the original ballpark was a mistake -- and plenty of fans still believe it was -- then completely demolishing it is the final injustice. It seems unthinkable that the city would tear down one of its landmarks without leaving behind some sign of its existence.

But that is the current plan. The city was originally going to preserve most of the original stadium, with plans for a hotel, convention center, a high school for sports medicine and sports management, a museum and other offices in and around the historic ballpark.

Those lofty plans were quickly abandoned, but the city was supposed to leave part of the stadium seating area and the original field in place at the new 10-acre Heritage Field, along with two new baseball and softball fields that would be constructed on top of a parking garage.

The idea of leaving something behind made it easier for diehard fans to accept the new park. But that plan has been reconfigured this spring to answer valid community complaints about the configuration of the park, and the result is this: There will be no real evidence that Yankee Stadium ever existed.

For more on the Save Gate 2 Project check out their website at savetheyankeegate2.com. It's a long shot, but you never know, if enough people get behind this it can be done.