Empty / Abandoned Stadiums

[joezierer]

Miami has the worst attendance for a new stadium since 1982. A brand new park is sitting 18th in attendance. I don't think that's a misleading photo.

(it's not mine, for what it's worth)

[Lumbergo]

that's a pregame picture. context matters.

[joezierer]

Indeed it is. It's a picture from the opening pitch, but how many more do you really think are going to show up?

[Commandant]

Found this on detroiturbex.com (images and information thanks to detroiturbex.com):

Kimball Arena, Port Huron, Michigan

Even in a large metropolitan area, the plan would have been considered a long shot: the construction of a $220 million dollar complex including a 10,000 seat hockey arena, additional ice rinks, restaurants, a hotel, and shopping. And yet in 1999, work began on just such a project in the Michigan city of Port Huron, population: 32,000.
The idea was that the arena would be home to Port Huron's minor league hockey team, the Border Cats. The teams owner - Mostafa Afr – had a good track record of taking financially distressed arena properties and turning them around, and hoped the project would draw residents and people from the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, construction was halted only a year after it began when financing for the project dried up. While considerable structural work had been completed on the building housing the additional ice rinks, the arena itself was just a foundation pit with a few concrete uprights, which soon filled with water.
By 2002 the building had been heavily damaged by vandals, and though a new developer for the property would appear every few years, their plans – finish the arena, build a casino, turn it into a convention center – never materialized.
Today the project site has been exposed to the elements for over 10 years. It is far past the salvageable stage, and most discussion about the property focuses on tearing down rather than building up.
In the end though, one city's loss was another city's gain. A construction firm used the plans and building materials created but never used for the Port Huron arena to build the Windsor Family Credit Union Center starting in 2006. The completed project bears a strong resemblance to the skeletal remains rotting outside of Port Huron.

[go_leafs_go02]

What on earth where they thinking? I grew up just over an hour from Port Huron, and never heard about this place. Shocking to be honest...

[Lumbergo]

Miami Marine Stadium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mebaCC3MxcY

[fidalgo]

8 years later, Athens Olympic venues in decay
Eight years after the Athens Games, many of the venues remain abandoned or rarely used, focusing public anger on past governments as the country struggles through a fifth year of recession and a debt crisis that has seen a surge in poverty and unemployment. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

There's still one group that loves the training pool for athletes at the former Olympic village in Athens' northern fringe.

Frogs.

They appear to delight in sitting on debris that floats on the half-filled pool's murky waters.

The athletes village itself has fared somewhat better, turned into housing for workers.

Eight years after the 2004 Athens Games, many of the Olympic venues Greece built at great expense remain abandoned or rarely used. They are the focus of great public anger as the country struggles through a fifth year of recession and nearly three years of a debt crisis that has seen a surge in poverty and unemployment.

At the southern Athens venue for softball — a sport unknown in Greece and already out of the Summer Olympics — the occasional weed is all that remains on the dried-out field.

With no shortage of real beaches in Greece, the purpose-built beach volleyball stadium has seen minimal use in the past eight years, mostly just concerts.

Other Athens venues have fared better. The badminton hall has been converted into a popular theater venue, the former international Olympic broadcast center is a shopping mall and what was the main press center now houses ministry offices.

The old baseball venue has been used for the past two years by a fourth-division local soccer club — although some of the stands could do with a lick of paint.

The hockey venue hosted the Special Olympics last year, but material used in that event still lies abandoned around the rim.

The taekwondo and handball arena is occasionally used for non-sports events.

The main Athens Olympics complex is now mostly open to the public and its sporting venues are used by local teams or to host national championships.

Greek politicians, meanwhile, are still struggling to deal with those years of excess spending, and many economists still question the country's future in the 17-nation common euro currency.


The Olympic beach volleyball lies abandoned in southern Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. The purpose-built stadium has seen minimal use _ mostly for concerts _ since the Athens 2004 Olympics.


Weeds sprout in the remains of what was once the playing field at the abandoned Olympic softball venue in southern Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012.


Frogs inhabit the murky waters of an abandoned training pool for athletes at the Olympic village on the northern fringes of Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. After the Athens 2004 Games, the village was used as a worker housing project.


urky water and rubbish fill an abandoned training pool for athletes at the Olympic village on the northern fringes of Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. After the Athens 2004 Games, the village was used as a worker housing project.


Frogs sit on rubbish floating in the murky waters of an abandoned training pool for athletes at the Olympic village on the northern fringes of Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012.


The open Olympic swimming pool sits empty at the rundown Olympic complex, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012 in Athens. After the Athens 2004 Games, the pool has been sporadically used for national championships.


Two people walk inside the Olympic stadium, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012 in Athens. The stadium is one of the very few Olympic venues to have been used for sports after the Athens 2004 Games, hosting soccer matches and athletics.


Smashed boards left over from last year's Special Olympics litter the abandoned Olympic hockey venue in southern Athens on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012.


[IMG]A worker mows the field of the Olympic baseball venue in southern Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. The stadium has been used for the past two years by a fourth-division local soccer club.[/IMG]


The gate to the Olympic taekwondo and handball arena is locked in southern Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. The purpose-built arena has been occasionally used for non-sporting events since the Athens 2004 Olympics.


Paralympic athlete Paraskevi Katza practices at the Olympic stadium of Athens on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. The stadium is one of the very few Olympic venues to have been used for sports after the Athens 2004 Games, hosting soccer matches and athletics.


he Olympic cauldron rises behind the central arch in the Olympic stadium of Athens on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. The stadium is one of the very few Olympic venues to have been used for sports after the Athens 2004 Games, hosting soccer matches and athletics.


A bus passes the remains of a fountain made with Olympic rings and graffiti-defaced marble blocks that were originally dedicated to Greek Olympic medal winners, at the former Olympic village on the northern fringes of Athens, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012. After the Athens 2004 Games, the village was used as a worker housing project.

http://summergames.ap.org/article/8-...c-venues-decay
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...nt-greek-ruin/
http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog...-the-olympics/

[JJG]

Originally Posted by weava

thats clearly pregame going on, show us a picture from the 2-3rd inning when the full crowd has arrived...

It was a joke....

[ayanamikun]

The british throw shit as usual. Instead of bothering with the 90% of the infastructure and cost that has benefited the country, they bother with the remaining 10% of both volume and cost, mostly shity small venues anyway. Show some pictures of the press center which costed twice as all those pictures combined, to see how it looks today.
Not that it matters now, British are scatological anyway and they showed it this year.

[matthemod]

....care to run that one by us again? I don't get what you're trying to say. That there were some empty seats at the Olympics?

[Phildrik]

Thats sad about the athens venues, only 8 years later

[potiz81]

Originally Posted by Phildrik

Thats sad about the athens venues, only 8 years later

For which venue of Athens exactly do you feel sad? Maybe for the Beach volley one, but, hold on, it will be soon a major attraction in a seaside park designed by Renzo Piano. All the rest venues are already in use.



http://www.snf.org/index.php?ID=grants_EN&Rec_ID=4603

Originally Posted by potiz81

Status of Athens' olympic venues, 2012

Athens Olympic Stadium: in use by two football teams (AEK and Panathinaikos) and for various events, from athletic championships and concerts to Rally Acropolis.

Olympic Indoor Arena: in use by Panathinaikos basketball team and the Greek national team.

Peace and Friendship Stadium: in use by the Olympiacos basketball team

Karaiskaki Stadium: in use by the Olympiacos football team, also it is the home ground for the Greek national football team.

Hellinikon Basketball Stadium: in use by AEK, for Greek Cup basketball matches, and for concerts.

Taekwondo Stadium in Faliro: Conference and concert hall, hosting Mad Video Music Awards, various performances as Disney on Ice, Madwalk Fashion Events and many more.

Goudi Sports Complex: now in use as the "Badminton Theater".

Olympic Sailing Center: now a marina.

Baseball stadium: in use by Ethnikos FC.

Beach Volleyball Stadium: As fas as I know it hasn't any special use right now, but it is part of the revamped Athenian waterfront project, designed by Renzo Piano and funded by the Niarchos foundation.

Weightlifting Olympuc Arena: University of Piraeus.

Ano Liosia Olympic Hall: in use for various sporting events (gymnastics, ice hockey) and will be converted to the national digital archive.

International Broadcast Center: the "Golden Hall" mall.

Main Broadcast Center: Ministry of Health.

The Olympic velodrome, aquatic center, and tennis center are all fully in use, for competitions, national team events, and by the public.

Panathenaic Stadium: archaeological site, hosting special events and the Athens marathon.

Olympic Rowing Center: part of the Schinias National Park.

Shooting venue: training ground for the Hellenic Police.

Football stadiums outside of Athens that were used during the Olympics, in Crete, Volos, Patra, and Thessaloniki, are all in use by local club teams in those cities, as well as for concerts and track meets, and the occasional Greek national team match.

[rodrigorc]

Fonte Nova Stadium - Salvador, BA, BRA

It was the beginning of the demolition process, you can check how it is now at this link below.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=973400&page=8


image hosted on flickr

[Rev Stickleback]

Originally Posted by ayanamikun

The british throw shit as usual. Instead of bothering with the 90% of the infastructure and cost that has benefited the country, they bother with the remaining 10% of both volume and cost, mostly shity small venues anyway. Show some pictures of the press center which costed twice as all those pictures combined, to see how it looks today.
Not that it matters now, British are scatological anyway and they showed it this year.

It's an associated press article written by a Greek Journalist, with photos from a Greek photographer. What's Britain got to do with it?

[GEwinnen]

The former stadium of Bundesliga club Schalke 04, built in 1973 for the WC 1974 in Germany, in use till 2001.

It is almost completely demolished:

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr




The ground will be converted into 4 training pitches and a small stadium with 10,000 places.

[notbugme]

wow, what a waste. looks like a great stadium

[Phildrik]

So sad to see some of these great ol girls empty. Isn't there a massive old stadium in Prague that doesn't get used anymore

[Luigi742]

Originally Posted by Phildrik

So sad to see some of these great ol girls empty. Isn't there a massive old stadium in Prague that doesn't get used anymore

You mean the one with 9 football pitches in it? That one is still used for concerts.

[amq55]

Salgueiros SC was once known as the 3rd best club in Porto, Portugal, behind Boavista and FC Porto.
They had a simple 11000 capacity stadium built in the 1930's, called Vidal Pinheiro Stadium.



They then decided to build a new stadium not too far away, near a park named Arca d'Água. The location was great (near a highway and a park) and the terrain was donated by Porto City Hall to the club in 1997. The total capacity was to be of 12.000. In the meantime, the old stadium was demolished.







However, somehow they failed to realize that Arca d'Agua park had a natural lake and when construction started, water started sprouting from the ground. They had made foundation works on top of the water table and even though they spent over a year trying to remove it, it just kept coming and the construction was abandoned.

The club eventually suffered consecutive relegations and folded in 2006. The terrain was sold off to a phantom real estate agency and that's it. Now it's just a massive lake, filled with vegetation. At first, kids would swim and old people would fish, but with time, it just got so full of plants that it had to be fenced and now, nothing happens and there are no plans to refurbish it. The locals now call it Salgueiros Lake.







As for the old stadium, after it was demolished, a part of it was bought by the Porto Metro company and made an underground station next to the field, where some sheds stood for some years. The other part is owned by a real estate company who want to build a residential block, but is in legal problems with City Hall.

All that remains there now is a synthetic pitch, used for training by the newco team, Salgueiros 08, and a stand of the old stadium, marked with a graffiti that says "Modern Football was here."









I live and studied quite close to these two abandoned stadiums, so it touches me.

[Phildrik]

Originally Posted by Luigi742

You mean the one with 9 football pitches in it? That one is still used for concerts.

I remember reading it seated like 250k people, but you would be so far from any action to see anything..