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Old Posted Jan 20, 2011, 8:43 PM
Sebisebster Sebisebster is offline
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The history of Chavez Ravine - Part Three.

Los Angeles was a rapidly growing city in the 1950s. Despite its expanding population, the city had yet to host a major-league sports team. County supervisor Kenneth Hahn began to scout out potential teams that might be willing to relocate to Los Angeles, including the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley soon struck a deal with the city officials, acquiring the minor league Los Angeles Angels and its small ballpark with the promise of a new stadium to be built on the land from Chavez Ravine.



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A construction proposed project for the new upcoming Dodgers Stadium.

As former council member Frank Wilkinson, explains in his book CHAVEZ RAVINE, “We’d spent millions of dollars getting ready for it, and the Dodgers picked it up for just a fraction of that. It was just a tragedy for the people, and from the city it was the most hypocritical thing that could possibly happen.” Also he adds: "It's the tragedy of my life, absolutely. I was responsibile".


Dodgers owner, Walter O’Malley’s move to Chavez Ravine did not occur without major controversy. Vicious inter-city politics included allegations of Mayor Poulson making illegal deals with the Dodgers while betraying the public, while supporters of the stadium, including public figures such as Ronald Reagan, argued that opponents were “baseball haters.” In the end, O’Malley supporters won a public referendum by only three percent, allowing O’Malley to build the stadium in exchange for giving the Angels’ ballpark back to the city. Additional lawsuits froze the official transfer of land and delayed construction, but in 1959, the city began clearing the land for the stadium after removing the last few families that had refused to leave Chavez Ravine.





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Dodger Stadium in construction, built for $23 million.




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Dodgers Stadium in construction as a crowd has gathered in the area to show their support to the Dodgers, and to welcome them to the city, as well. Photo date: May, 1960





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Dodgers Stadium in construction. Photo date: April 21, 1961.





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Mister O'Malley in front of an almost-completed Dodger Stadium.



Finally On April 10, 1962, the 56,000-seat Dodger Stadium officially opened. The stadium wasn't completed yet as we can see in this picture, dated on April 12, 1962:



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Source:
www.lapl.org
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...re-in-the.html
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chavezravine/cr.html
and
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...ller/index.htm
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