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Orlando city officials put off Tinker Field decision

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando city officials put off a making big decision involving Tinker Field.

The baseball field sits right next to the Citrus Bowl and is scheduled to be torn down as part of the major renovation project.

It can be preserved if officials decide to name it a historical landmark, but Tuesday city leaders delayed making a decision amd residents were able to voice their concerns.

"Tinker field should receive landmark designation," one resident said.

The Municipal Planning Board found out that there is a lot to consider when deciding what to do with Tinker Field.

The ball field and grandstand have been in Orlando more than a century, and as renovations to the Citrus Bowl continue, the question for the city is what to do with Tinker Field.

The planning board was considering that question, said it wanted to wait on new information about what it would cost to restore the potential local landmark and what could be done with the ball field in the future.

It's the site of the only speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave in Orlando and plenty of baseball greats played there decades ago.

"Let's be more proactive and preserve what was there and create a greater opportunity for the men and woman in west Orlando to play there," another resident said.

Tinker Field is already on the national registry, but that designation does not control what construction can be done on the site.

The city's designation would do just that: make it a decision for the Historic Preservation Board.

It will be a month or so before city staff has all the new information available and the historic designation issue will then be set for another vote at another meeting before being brought before the City Commission.