Chavez Ravine: Construction Of The Los Angeles Dodgers Stadium

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In 1959, Chavez Ravine, a small rural community found just north of the heart of Los Angeles, was gravely disrupted as it’s occupants were displaced to make way for construction of the Dodgers Stadium. There is no doubt that the decision to build a new stadium on the site of the former area caused serious repercussions for the newly arrived Los Angeles Dodgers,their owner Walter O’Malley, and the predominantly Mexican-American community forced to leave and relocate their homes and lives elsewhere. This was not a smooth transition. People across the country were outraged; New Yorkers for losing their golden team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Mexican-American people in Chavez Ravine, who felt themselves back-stabbed by the Los Angeles officials. …show more content…
Moses was basically New York’s mastermind of city planning and design. Moses used the State Act of 1924, which he drafted, to give himself essentially “unprecedented (and to the hapless legislator, unappreciated) powers to appropriate land” (Hall,1993). And although O’Malley could find support among many other New York officials, Moses would not budge on a new stadium. It is clear that Moses had a vision for the city of Brooklyn, and the large 52,000 seat stadium O’Malley desired was not part of it. Despite the good arguments O’Malley made, such as the public benefits a ballpark would offer, among them giving the city additional sources of revenue and tourist attraction. Moses still denied the proposal. This back and forth went on for years. O’Malley even offered to finance the project himself. O’Malley was hitting back all the curveballs Moses threw, but eventually, after 10 years of trying, O’Malley decided to walk. (Ellsworth, P 2005). Los Angeles had heard the news that the Dodgers seeking a new home and offered O’Malley and his team a new home in L.A. in

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