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June 06, 2009
Tiger Stadium demo halted by man busting through fence with restraining order
Demolition of the remaining portion of Tiger Stadium was halted today a couple of hours after it began after a judge issued a restraining order and called for a hearing on the matter on Monday — but not immediately after. The Associated Press has the story of how it went down:
But when attorney Michael Myckowiak and others arrived at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull to serve the order on the demolition contractor, they found they couldn't get inside the covered fence surrounding the site.
That's when stadium supporter Chip Owen took the order, got inside the fence and "ran toward the mound with the papers," said Rick Ruffner, a conservancy board member. "He gave the papers to the construction company and demolition stopped immediately."
Owen, 48, of Grosse Pointe Park, was given a warning by police.
You can see video of this scene (and of demolition machines taking some bites out of the Tiger Stadium upper deck) here.
UPDATE: Photo, courtesy of buildingsofdetroit.com, showing the damage done to the upper deck before Owen arrived with the court order:
