Abandoned baseball stadium transformed into a 'residential area' with parking

Sports

AN ABANDONED baseball stadium has undergone a dramatic transformation, with its seats and lawn replaced by dozens of homes.

Osaka Stadium in Japan was once home to the Nankai Hawks basketball team, but when they left it became a residential area, with all the houses neatly arranged in small rows.

A Japanese stadium was transformed into a mini neighborhoodCredit: Mutual Art/Naoya Hatakeyama

It came complete with parking spaces, street lights and dozens of small housesCredit: Fudoki

The ingenious transformation has led to fans suggesting they should be rented outCredit: Fudoki

Immediately after the Nankai Hawks moved to another stadium in 1988, it became the temporary home for a high school baseball team – while also serving as a venue for Michael Jackson and Madonna to perform.

But three years later, a trade group took it over and leased it to various construction companies.

“They should rent these out as Airbnbs.”

The entire site was quickly transformed into a small residential area – complete with functional streets leading to the stadium, street lighting and parking spaces.

Although some believe the houses were once occupied, this is largely disputed. Most sources have stated that the structures were used solely for presentation purposes.

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“Houses were neatly arranged in rows and the lights were turned on to create the illusion of habitation. It was a strange sight,” according to Amusing Planet.

The concept recently took social media by storm again, after an

Baseball fans have since panicked at the idea of living in an abandoned stadium.

One user commented: “The biggest dead end ever.”

Another said: “This is amazing! Too many historic ballparks are simply being torn down, this could keep them alive.

“Oakland's ballpark, once the A's leave town, could be an example of this.”

While a third added: “They should rent these out as Airbnbs.

“I think there are plenty of people who would pay good money for the novelty of living in a baseball stadium for a week, especially if you're a fan of the team that plays there.”

Unfortunately, the stadium has now been demolished and a shopping center now stands on its site.

Photographer Ned Bunnell, who visited the stadium in its prime, claimed that the model neighborhood failed due to a disinterest in Western-style housing.

Ned told The Sun that despite visiting the area around the stadium it was often empty.

“I've been there at least three times and never saw people walking around. It was clearly not a successful expo,” Ned said.

Ned added that the stadium was eventually demolished in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis' Bush Stadium has become an idyllic home to hundreds of residents – following a £10.4 million renovation.

The “Stadium Lofts” project opened in 2013 and although it now contains 138 loft apartments, the developers have retained much of the original infrastructure.

The owner's suite, ticket booth, much of the field, track and lighting were built in, making it still resemble a baseball stadium.

Residents can still enjoy the pitch, which is now their garden, and the reuse of the original curved structure resembles that of the former stands.

The world's strangest abandoned stadiums

Oosterpark Stadiumin the Netherlands, where chilling wooden puppets were placed in the standing areas to make the stadium seem less empty.

The Astrodomein Texas, once known as the 'Eighth Wonder of the World' for sports communities, cannot be demolished, but has also fallen into disuse – after being used only to shelter evacuees after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Estadio Mane Garrinchain Brazil, cost the government a whopping £350 million to build, but is now only used as parking for buses in the district.

Incheon Munhak StadiumSouth Korea, although it was initially built as a multi-purpose stadium with a baseball park – the designers could not have imagined that it would be used for a League of Legends World Championship final.