Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Rosenblatt Stadium is gone, and it's not coming back.
Contrary to persistent rumors that Rosenblatt was being prepped as a College World Series backup site in case of downtown flooding, crews were working Monday to take down pieces of the former CWS shrine.
Dennis Pate, director and CEO of the Henry Doorly Zoo, said Monday that workers are salvaging those pieces of equipment and material that can be sold — such as copper wiring and brick pavers — to help defray the cost of demolishing Rosenblatt.
The bricks that paved an entry plaza in front of the stadium are being pulled up and stacked on pallets. A scoreboard down the right field line was taken down Monday, and the larger video board is due to be shipped to Omaha Burke High School.
Pate said the bricks and seats will be sold through a fundraising effort by the zoo's foundation, and an announcement from that organization with details about the sale is forthcoming.
It's clear Rosenblatt is in no shape to hold a series, and its condition is only deteriorating.
Inside the stadium, the grass looks shabby and spotted. The stadium also has no power, and a lot of the electrical wiring has been removed, Pate said. Concession equipment owned by the vendors, he said, has been removed.
“All the nerves and skeleton and muscle are gone on the inside,” he said.
And what does the City of Omaha say? Is Rosenblatt being readied for use?
“Absolutely not,” said Aida Amoura, spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Suttle.
Kathryn Morrissey, executive vice president of College World Series of Omaha Inc., echoed that comment, saying Rosenblatt was not being prepared as an alternate site and that officials weren't even considering it.
Besides that, officials have repeatedly said TD Ameritrade Park is not at risk from flooding and that the series will go on as scheduled beginning June 18 at its new downtown home.
As for Rosenblatt, full demolition is still some time off.
That work will cost some $3 million — funds that zoo officials still need to raise. Pate said demolition might not happen until late next year.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1128, jeff.robb@owh.com
Salvage work at Rosenblatt Stadium:
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