Dodgers Giving Up on Stadium for ’61 Season

Posted on March 20, 2010 by lmharnisch

 
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March 20, 1960: The Dodgers were giving up hope they would open the 1961 season in their new Chavez Ravine stadium.

Walter O'Malley complained to The Times' sports editor, Paul Zimmerman, about the "little delays" that kept construction from starting.

March 20, 1960, Dodgers

March 20, 1960, Chavez Ravine

In a March 26 story, the city's planning director said construction could start in 60 days if the city approved the tract map and granted a conditional use permit.

The Dodgers at various times planned to open the 1960 season in Chavez Ravine, then hoped to move from the Coliseum sometime in 1960. There was even talk for a while of opening the ballpark with less than full capacity.

Why was the conditional use permit so important? According to The Times, the Chavez Ravine area was zoned for only a 5,000-seat ballpark.

–Keith Thursby
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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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1 Response to Dodgers Giving Up on Stadium for ’61 Season

  1. Native Angeleno's avatar Native Angeleno says:
    March 20, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Walter O’Malley’s longheld stadium dreams took their time. At least, though, things ended very well considering what Frisco ended up with in its mad dash to a park in 1961, the ugly disaster that was Candlestick.
    All good things in due course.

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