Mile High Stadium [Archive]

PeteU

10-25-2007, 07:26 PM

In honor of the Colorado Rockies reaching their first World Series, I thought I would go ahead and post a few pictures of the Rockies first home, Mile High Stadium.

Built in 1948 as a minor league ballpark called Bears Stadium, the stadium was expanded numerous times for the Denver Broncos, until reaching its final capacity of 76,098. One unique feature of Mile High was that all three decks in left field actually moved from baseball to football configuaration via a hydraulic water system.

Right field at Mile High was a cool 370 feet away. The inaugural 1993 season saw 4 million fans come in the gates at Mile High.

Bears Stadium:
http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/past/milehigh1948.jpg

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/past/milehighold.jpg

Mile High in its early football days:

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/past/mileold.jpg

Note the third base line looks to be angled, whereas later in the stadium's life it was at a 90 degree angle. I'm guessing they rebuilt that part of the stands later on in the stadium's life.

Capacity crowd for a Rockies game:

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/past/milehigh.jpg

A less than capacity crowd:

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/past/mile12.jpg

Note the place was so big that even a decent crowd looked pretty small.

(Thanks to ballparksofbaseball.com for the pictures)

Gary Dunaier

10-25-2007, 10:49 PM

Didn't the left field stands move on some kind of a water flow system?

I remember reading somewhere that the guy randomly selected among all the season ticket applicants to have first choice of seat location anywhere in Mile High - I don't know if this carried over to Coors Field - but he chose to have his seats near the Rockies dugout, not behind the plate.

Jim Vaz

10-26-2007, 06:34 AM

Now I know what they meant when they called it "Mile High"! Those press boxes were way up there!!

philipthegreat

10-26-2007, 01:43 PM

I thought attendance was a little over eighty thousand.

I always thought they should've kept Mile High, it was great.

HoldenV8

10-26-2007, 09:40 PM

Does anyone have any decent aerial photo's of Mile High in it's baseball configuration?

PeteU

10-29-2007, 05:39 AM

Does anyone have any decent aerial photo's of Mile High in it's baseball configuration?

Not a whole lot. But this is the closest I could find to a good baseball aerial, from ballparks.com:

http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/milehi02.jpg

PeteU

10-29-2007, 05:42 AM

I thought attendance was a little over eighty thousand.

I always thought they should've kept Mile High, it was great.

I know Opening Day 1993 was over 80,000. Perhaps there were some seats they didn't usually sell for baseball except on overflow crowds.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 12:51 PM

I've been browsing these wonderful threads about ballparks for a couple months and am totally entrawled at the many uploads of ballparks old and new. I visited Mile High Stadium about once a week (usually Saturdays) while they were razing it in early 2002. Figured I would share "some" of the 100's of photos I took during that time. I apoligize they are low resolution, they were with my old digital 2mb pixel Kodak, but they are stamp dated to help show the progression.

I'll try to limit to about 10 pictures per week at a time as I visited the site about 12 different weeks during early 2002. These first few when I began was just after they had taken down the south stands.

NOTE: This is my first time uploading to this site, so bear with me as I may go thru some trial and error.

44037

44038

44039

44040

44041

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 12:55 PM

Here are the other 5 photos from that 1st week of photographing Mile High being razed. I will upload subsequent weeks as time allows or that I don't here a shout to "Stop!" . . . lol.

whoisonit

06-08-2008, 01:08 PM

Here are the other 5 photos from that 1st week of photographing Mile High being razed. I will upload subsequent weeks as time allows or that I don't here a shout to "Stop!" . . . lol.

DON'T STOP ! These are great shots. :clapping
Thank you for sharing them with us.
Welcome to BB-F.
We're not greedy but . . . we want to see them all !

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 01:11 PM

Here is one week later, not alot of progression but South Stands have been completely cleared out.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 01:14 PM

Here are 5 more from the 2nd week. I will try to upload the early Feb 2002 in a few days and subsequent weeks later on. You will see the New Mile High in some of these photos just next to the old one.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 01:30 PM

DON'T STOP ! These are great shots. :clapping
Thank you for sharing them with us.
Welcome to BB-F.
We're not greedy but . . . we want to see them all !

Thank You whoisonit! Since your reply was so positive I will at least upload the 3rd week of this series of "Razing of old Mile High" I will upload as many as I can, I just didn't want to monopolize this thread is all I was meaning previously (not that it's that heavily toured, lol).
Here are 10 more in two posts.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 01:33 PM

The sun is out here in Denver! Time to get some of it, so this will be it for today. I will upload the subsequent weeks (through the end of March and two others in May 2002 and one year later (Jan 2003).

whoisonit

06-08-2008, 01:51 PM

Thank You whoisonit!
I just didn't want to monopolize this thread is all

You're welcome.

I wouldn't worry too much about monopolizing the thread ! LOL ! Go ahead and claim ownership -

Do you have shots of Mile High before the demolision ? (Nothing is too mundane or esoteric for us - please refer to the reemergence of "the door" in the YS renovation thread :rofl:)

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 03:14 PM

You're welcome.

I wouldn't worry too much about monopolizing the thread ! LOL ! Go ahead and claim ownership -

Do you have shots of Mile High before the demolision ? (Nothing is too mundane or esoteric for us - please refer to the reemergence of "the door" in the YS renovation thread :rofl:)

I hear you loud and clear on YS renovation thread! Nonetheless, I love them though, I like anything that has to do with these old shrines!

No, I didn't take too many pictures of the Rockies while they resided at Mile High in '93-'94 . . .(nor the Broncos games when I attended, had only room for my hands in my pockets when it was 10 degrees out there, lol) I still had a big ole SLR camera back then and didn't take it too often. I probably have some scattered in and around somewhere on my computer and will see if I have any "scans" at a later time and add them to here as I find them. I have many photos I took and scanned of Coors Field being built during '92-'95, but they are all in TIF format. On my Mac, I upgraded my operating system recently and didn't realize that it would negate my old Photoshop software (it doesn't support classic softwares), so no way to reduce and convert to JPG as of now, perhaps later, and I'll begin or add to an existing Coors Field thread.

Anyhow . . .it got windy, weather got seedy so I decided to send more photos of Mile High's departure from the Denver scene. Very sad, it was a good ole battleship! It actually reminded me a bit of Shea Stadium . .not sure why? Just me. Here are the first 5 of 10 taken on 2-10-2002.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 03:18 PM

Here are 6-10 from 2-10-2002

Seattle1

06-08-2008, 03:19 PM

That's weird how come there's no snow in Denever in the middle of winter?

:rofl:

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 03:21 PM

That's weird how come there's no snow in Denever in the middle of winter?

:rofl:

It is actually a "myth" that it is always snowy in Denver in the winter time, but in browsing thru these photos today, I seen that in later photograph sessions it got "wintery" . . . It is not uncommon to have beautiful sunny warm days in Jan and Feb, and snow in the mountains, not 50 miles away.

Paul W

06-08-2008, 03:24 PM

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 04:51 PM

nice documentation of the de-construction.
i had heard that when it was bears stadium a aaa for the yankees, when sluggers they had went into slumps they were sent there to get their confidence back...

Yea, you might could say . . . Denver long before it came into it's own, was the viagra for the Yanks and anyone in baseball.

jC...

06-08-2008, 04:57 PM

Ive always had an interest in this place. Anyone have any pics of the field getting converted from football to baseball. I couldn't imagine seeing that large seating structure being pushed back on a sheet of water. It was a fascinating place.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 05:04 PM

Moving along, it gets sadder. By this time on my visits, I was only taking about 12-14 photos each time I went out on Saturday morning, depending on how much coffee I consumed or the presence of mind to remember yesterday. Here is first 5 of 10 that particular week.

DiggerODell

06-08-2008, 05:14 PM

6-10 of 2-17-2002. This old park wasn't too much known for baseball even though that was it's begin . . . but it allows me to half atleast know . . . the emotion of someone in Brooklyn for Ebbets in '62 or the Bronx in '64 for Polo Grounds . . . Pittsburgh for Forbes, Philadelphia for Shibe, Cincy for Crosley and I could go on and on. Notice I didn't say Wrigley for Chicago . . . nor Fenway for Boston? I reckon it would have been to much to have ever had to handle. If they ever tear down Dodger Stadium though . . . I'll take the first swing, smile.

DiggerODell

06-10-2008, 01:37 AM

Lady's and Gents, I don't remember missing a week of photography during this razing but I must have . . . as I have nothing for the week of 2-24-2002. Long time ago now just don't remember why. Obviously in 2 weeks alot had been tore down so this is a pretty big jump from the 2-17-2002 photos.

Also, for Seattle1 . . . here's some snow for ya . . . (I knew it finally got there that season) ha!

DiggerODell

06-10-2008, 01:48 AM

I would also be curious, if Shea or Yankee Stadiums take as long to raze or are done in a similar fashion when the time comes. Hopefully someone from the NYC area might try to visit those venues once a week too?

I do plan to attend a game at each one of those venues in July and also visit the old Polo and Ebbets sites (much of the inspiration having derived from these threads on BB-F) I intend to bring a copy of Russ Hodges "Shot heard around the world". . . over and over as I stand next to the homeplate marker and take more photographs (and I don't care if anybody drops flower pots or not . .ha!) Well? I do . .. but hopefully not. The Brush Stairway (Polo Grounds) fascinates me too . . . hope i can cross that fence as another threader said they did in recent times.

bleacherbum73

06-10-2008, 08:52 AM

DiggerODell

06-10-2008, 11:56 AM

It's interesting that they left most of the seats to the wrecking ball and also it appears that the goalpost is still standing in one endzone with half the stadium gone. Was there a reason it and the seats were not salvaged.

As I recollect the company that demolished Mile High began with the "South Goal Post" just in front of the South Stands, then took the SS's down first and worked clockwise around the park. The "North goal Post" was last to go (as my later photographs will show). It was this newstory on local TV that first got me interested to go out and photograph all the progress (not sure progress is the proper word . .ha!). Hence, I didn't not get any photos of the actual South Stands or Goal Post coming down.

They did not use a wrecking ball in the classic sense (not like the one used for Polo Grounds and Ebbets). Welders would cut away the structure and then those big ole grapplers (or jaws of life . . . well? perhaps "jaws of demise" in this case) would pull the cut pieces away and have it hauled off.

As for the seats. They did not save them all, but my son in law actually has one seat from the old park I don't recall how he procurred it but he's an avid Bronco fan and that seat is a prize possession of his. My later (about late March 2002) will show how they wasted alot of the seats on the east side of the park . . . those grapplers (or whatever they are called) would just swing back and forth knocking and breaking out alot of the plastic seats. I tried to photograph this but it's very difficult to lend proper representation in a still photograph. I always wish in retrospect that I had visited the site at night and seen about hauling away a section of seats (wouldn't been legal or right, but nonetheless, I regret not having done so.). I didn't inquire how to procure any legally either . .oh well? Live and learn . .die and forget it . . .

Chevy114

06-10-2008, 01:06 PM

I wish I could have gone to a football gam there, they say the seats were right on top the sidelines. That would make for a good time harasing the other team!

DiggerODell

06-10-2008, 02:24 PM

Continuing on.

DiggerODell

06-10-2008, 02:28 PM

This is about a month and a half into the demolition. There are about 3 weeks to go plus some photos I took after it was all cleared.

War Paint

06-11-2008, 08:46 PM

Why was the goal post still standing during demolition?

I grew up a huge Broncos fan (still am) and visited Mile High in it's baseball configuration back when it was a minor league park. It was 1988 or 89 before the Rockies. Highlight of my childhood seeing that place in person.

DiggerODell

06-12-2008, 02:38 AM

Continuing on . . .

DiggerODell

06-12-2008, 02:43 AM

I will attempt to upload the final weeks of this series of photos towards the end of the week. As I have said before, I took many more photos than these, and the most time consuming aspect of this is choosing 10 per each week.

DiggerODell

06-12-2008, 11:35 PM

I don't recall exactly now, 6 years later, why I went down on a Tuesday instead of the previous Saturday's, perhaps it was getting near the end, or that my son was on spring break from college and wanted to see where the demolition progress was?

DiggerODell

06-12-2008, 11:39 PM

Here are another 5 photos from that Tuesday in March of 2002.

DiggerODell

06-12-2008, 11:52 PM

DRATS! In case anyone is actually reading this, I got sloppy and uploaded the 3-31-2002 photos while talking about the 3-21-2002 shots. ha! So here are the actual 3-21-2002 photos (I edited the Titles) and subsequently will not comment on the actual 3-31-2002 photos. Something tells me I shouldn't have said "anything" lmao . . . sounds too much like ole Yogi ... Took all the drama away (I guess the photos speak for themselves though) here I was perhaps gonna paraphrase the late great Jim McKay "and now, it's all gone" . . . but instead I end up quoting Marlon Brando's great line "I coulda been somebody! I coulda been a contendaa!" Ha

DiggerODell

06-12-2008, 11:57 PM

Last of the actual 3-21 photos.

Wahhmbulance

06-13-2008, 12:22 AM

these are some really great shots! Almost sad in a way, to watch one place fall in the shadow of another.

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 11:23 AM

these are some really great shots! Almost sad in a way, to watch one place fall in the shadow of another.

Great observation! That was very similar to my impression during that 2 1/2 mos. I watched old Mile High come down, and the reason I refrained from including too many with the new one in the photograph. Just enough to lend a perspective of their proximety to one another.

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:02 PM

continuing on . . .

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:04 PM

. . . and on

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:07 PM

This was the week I eluded to earlier in this thread how the "grappler" (or whatever it is referred to) would swing back and forth breaking and knocking the plastic seats off their mounts.

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:35 PM

About a month and a half after Mile High was all cleared away, I took the following photos. Even the "North Goal Post" was gone by now . . . There has never been a marker indicating the place ever existed (at least to my knowledge as of right now, I haven't stopped by there for a few years now)

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:37 PM

whoisonit

06-13-2008, 01:43 PM

digger, you need to get over to that site this month and take phot's from similar angles so we can see 'what sits on the site ...' !

This is a great thread. Nice job.

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:53 PM

digger, you need to get over to that site this month and take phot's from similar angles so we can see 'what sits on the site ...' !

This is a great thread. Nice job.

I kind of sort of did as these final 2 demise uploads will show. I went out approx a year after the demolition began and took some photos of the "lovely parking lot" that sits where ole Mile High once stood.

Although I never stop there anymore, I do drive by it on I-25 every day on the way to work. I assure you, it looks the very same now as in these 2003 photographs (other than the fact that I now have a higher resolution camera . .ha)

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 01:55 PM

The final shots of the parking lot a year after demolition.

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 02:13 PM

On April 9, 1993 . . . 80227 baseball hungry fans, including my son and myself, packed the old Mile High to welcome their Colorado Rockies (who beat the now defunct Montreal Expos 11-4). I thought it would be . . . "novel" to take photos of the site 10 years later, so I did. I know it's korny, but I like stuff like that.

These photos have just sat in a folder on my computer the last 5 years. Nobody wanted to see them but myself . . . and even I got pretty bored with them after a couple of views. I'd have a freind over and ask them if they would like to see the photographs I took of old Mile High in it's final months and they would suddenly remember an errand they need to run for their wife . . ha!

It wasn't till I "finally" discovered this site (in April of this year!!!) and all it's threads that a brainstorm hit me . . . "why not upload all these damned photos which are collecting dust on your harddrive, and see if any of them suddenly have errands to run for their Mrs . . . or perhaps are just indifferent to them." Anyhow, I thank all of you that have browsed these photos and particulary those that have commented.

DiggerODell

06-13-2008, 02:16 PM

DiggerODell

06-16-2008, 11:52 AM

I couldn't resist upon looking through my archive old Mile High photographs to include these 3 "dates" of photos I took prior to the demolition. These 11-21-2000 photos were taken while old Mile High was still up and running and the new Mile was under construction.

DiggerODell

06-16-2008, 12:00 PM

Here are the balance of the photos taken that particular day. The photograph showing just a parking lot is the site that Mcnichols Arena once stood. This photo (P0001037) was taken several months after it had been removed.

DiggerODell

06-16-2008, 12:09 PM

Here are photos from the day they allowed the fans "one last tour" of the field, luxury suites. I used my camcorder mostly during this tour only pulling out my digital for some stills . . . thats the reason there aren't many, but it gives you a hint of what it was like on the field. It was obviously in a football configuration as this was almost 6 years after Coors Field had opened.

DiggerODell

06-16-2008, 12:28 PM

Obviously, two of these 5 were taken of old Mile on 2-17-2001 and the balance were taken of the monument outside of the new Mile High.

Gary Dunaier

06-16-2008, 12:40 PM

Here are photos from the day they allowed the fans "one last tour" of the field, luxury suites.

Doesn't seem like too many people showed up.

It would be awesome if the Mets and Yankees did something like this.

DiggerODell

06-16-2008, 12:50 PM

Doesn't seem like too many people showed up.

It would be awesome if the Mets and Yankees did something like this.

You know Gary, actually a couple hundred were allowed to tour during one session, but after the actual tour was complete and the guide left, we were allowed to just "roam the grounds". The photos I captured don't really convey the amount of people there, but I do assure you there were atleast 150-200. They allowed tours in 2 hour increments for a couple weekends. If i remember correctly, I toured the 2nd to the last tour.

If the Mets and Yankees don't do something like this, it will be a crying shame. At least give folks a chance to walk around the old parks one last time and savior all the memories!

curb my enthusiasm

06-16-2008, 08:04 PM

It's hard to believe that both Shea and Yankee Stadium will be demolished just like this in a few months. I'm sure that there will be several people on this forum taking pictures of both stadiums on their deathbeds. Those will be very dramatic photos indeed.

At least it's comforting to know that both teams will be moving into better stadiums next year (even though there are some Yankee fans here who disagree).

Altitude

04-13-2009, 10:45 PM

We lost a great football cathedral to the mothership. I still miss Mile High and it's magic during the Broncos. I wish they would have rebuilt it, just like they did for Lambeau Field.

Fudbutter

04-14-2009, 05:44 PM

The round hotel in some of the pictures was (and might still be) a Holiday Inn. You could get a "stadium view" room and see about half the field for baseball. We used to kick off National Park trips by flying to Denver and seeng a Zephyrs game the first night. The last time we had a reservation in that hotel was for a Mets-Rockies game in August '94. I looked forward to it all summer. Then they went on strike the week before we were to show up. Grrrrrrr.