The end of August in Ann Arbor means the coming of college football season. And the start of the new season means the resumption of football Saturdays. As someone who lives a couple of blocks from Michigan Stadium, the dawning of a football season means one thing, testosterone, hordes of beefy maize and blue wearing men walking in front of cars and whooping in the streets and drinking beer at 9am. Beer and testosterone, a lovely combination.
Michigan Stadium is the second largest football-only stadium in the world and you’d think that having a football stadium that seats 111,000 would dominate the surrounding area. But the joy of Michigan Stadium has been the fact despite it’s size, the top of the grandstands are barely 15 feet above street level. Yeah, there is the press box and scoreboards rising higher, but it’s kind of amazing how well the stadium fits into a mostly residential neighborhood.
Well, that was the Michigan Stadium of old. In an effort to milk every penny from the pocket of their well-heeled alumni, Michigan Stadium is undergoing a massive face lift as luxury boxes are added on both the east and left sides of the field. The once low-key stadium now towers over the neighborhood with massive steel girders that are the framework for the new luxury boxes.
Local sportswriter Jim Carty does not seem to troubled regarding the change, but then he doesn’t live in this neighborhood.
Watch a flyover animation of the new monstrosity that towers over Main Street and the Almendinger neighborhood.