Fenway Could Follow Garden’s Path Despite Overwhelming Fan Sentiment, Red Sox Can See The Big Picture

Few people complained when plans were unveiled to replace Boston Garden. Many were nostalgic, sure, but not all that sorry to see the decrepit old place go.

Now the Boston Red Sox say they may leave Fenway Park, which along with Detroit’s Tiger Stadium are the nation’s oldest major-league stadiums, for a 49,000-capacity ballpark complex with no obstructed views, no cramped seating and no Green Monster. And this may be more of a jolt than the city can take.

“It’s horrible,” Bob Bunker said Friday while lunching at a watering hole in the shadow of the ballpark. “It’s history.”

Fenway “is so much more distinctive than any other stadium,” said Chris Siragusa, a transplant from New York. “People just don’t want to see it go.”

The lunch crowd waxed nostalgic about Fenway’s distinctive manual scoreboard, the short right-field line and the familiar neon Citgo sign visible above the 37-foot left-field wall dubbed the Green Monster. They praised the intimate feel of the 33,871 seats.

“It makes you feel more a part of the game,” Siragusa said.

Red Sox chief executive officer John Harrington said Fenway is charming and historic, but it’s “economically obsolete.” Among other things, he said, there’s too little room for luxury seats, a big source of revenue.

“We truly believe our fans will come to accept it,” Harrington said.

Across town, fans of the Celtics and Bruins have spent this season bidding a bittersweet farewell to deteriorating Boston Garden, which will close at the end of the summer. Its replacement, just next door, is almost done.

Now the Red Sox, too, say they want to move. They’ve got a plan for a new $150 million ballpark, hotel and retail complex to be built alongside a proposed convention center in downtown Boston. Team officials say they’ll pay for the construction if the city and state will cover the cost of land, roads and public transportation.

A commission studying the center is scheduled to choose a site by June 1.

The Red Sox say their target for a new stadium is 2001, when they hope to host an All-Star game marking the 100th anniversary of the franchise.

The Red Sox are being mindful of fan sentiment. They say they won’t enclose their ballpark, conceding Boston fans wouldn’t stand for artificial grass replacing the Fenway sod once graced by the likes of Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski.

The team promises a Boston version of the highly successful Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles have played since 1992. The Orioles replaced Memorial Stadium with an old-fashioned open-air ballpark whose 47,000 deep green seats look like wood, although they’re made of plastic. Concealed behind this traditional facade are 72 modern skyboxes, plus restaurants and gift shops.