Tiger Stadium site to become Detroit PAL baseball field

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To baseball historians it is holy ground. The ghosts of boys of summers' past roam the green grass
And soon kids will play ball on the grounds of old Tiger stadium, which will soon be named in honor of Willie Horton.

"We kept the same orientation, home plate is where home plate has always been," said Tim Richey, Detroit Police Athletic League CEO Corktown. "The flagpole is there, same dimensions out to right field, leftfield, but we're going to have a new stadium out here.

"It's going to be 2,500 seats, dug outs, locker rooms, there is going to be a new headquarters for Detroit PAL and a banquet center, a leadership center overlooking the field for our kids, our families to enjoy, for community events. We think (it will be) a real hub of activity here in Corktown."

Richey is excited that the corner will meaning something to the kids of today.

"We're going to be breaking ground and it will become one of the finest youth complexes in the region," Richey said. "We're really excited to have the chance to redevelop the site, bring it back to life and share the history and memories and give PAL kids the home they deserve."

There is a big groundbreaking ceremony planned for Wednesday on the $13 million project which is still fundraising to promote youth baseball in the city at kidsatthecorner.com (click to donate).

"The construction starts soon after that," said Richey. "We'll be moving in spring of 2017."

This story has been updated to reflect that the stadium will be named in honor of Willie Horton, and not "Willie Horton Field."