Although it’s a drive, bus, limousine or luxury sedan ride from anywhere in suburban Detroit, Comerica Park has become a major attraction this summer, primarily due to the Tiger’s successful 2006 season and its current season. with a record above .500 for the year, so far.

The famous park is nearly 10 years old and is another in the vein of quaint ballparks from the days gone by situated in the heart of a major downtown metropolis.

And naturally, tigers are the theme of this park. Its brick exterior is surrounded by stone tiger heads with a baseball between clenched teeth. Huge tigers with menacing scowls guard the two main entrance doors, both on the right field line. Comerica Park also has brickwork in the one place it’s most likely to be noticed: the area extending from either side of the tree-lined batter’s backdrop.

The brick wall serves as the Tigers’ Wall of Fame, with the last names of six Tigers immortalized on the wall at center left. In the concourse above, there are six 13-foot sculptures of former tiger greats Al Kaline, Hal Newhouser, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, and Willie Horton. Aside from Cobb, who played before there were numbers, the other five have their retirement numbers etched into the brick directly below their statues.

The last names of Tigers legends who played before the numbers were used adorn the brick stretch in right-center field. One notable exception is the name Harwell, after the famous Tiger announcer, who retired after the 2002 season after 55 years in the booth.

Comerica Park has many other distinctive features, though not all of them are original. The first thing you notice when you look down the field is the huge scoreboard in left field. At 147 feet tall by 202 feet wide, it is the largest in baseball. The idea was borrowed from Cleveland’s Jacobs Field Jumbotron, which was the largest until Detroit copied the feature and made it slightly larger.

Sitting on top of the scoreboard, on either side, are a pair of orange and black tigers, whose eyes flash green when a tiger hits a home run and during the classic Survivor song “Eye of the Tiger.”

The park takes other architectural cues from Jacobs Field with the toothbrush-shaped light towers. While Tiger Stadium’s distinctive bank of lights can still be seen from most places in Detroit, Comerica Park can only be seen from a short distance away. The field is dug below street level, so the ballpark doesn’t appear to be very large when you approach it from the outside.

Directly over the batter’s backdrop in center field is the General Motors Fountain, which remains inactive throughout the game unless a Tiger home runs. It is used before and after games when it throws streams of water choreographed to music.

The fountain is also the centerpiece of the fireworks display that occurs after every Friday night Tigers home game. Spraying water up to 150 feet high, the fountain is programmed to change lights and music. If you sit on the top deck, you can easily see the cylinder-shaped headquarters of General Motors directly behind its sponsoring fountain.

Other hard facts about Comerica Park:

Physical Address: 2100 Woodward Avenue

Construction cost: $300 million (HOK Sport)

Construction began on October 29, 1997

Public financing paid for 38.3% ($115 million) of the cost of the stadium. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch paid the remaining 61.7% ($185 million)

Naming Rights: Comerica Bank Pays $2.2 Million Per Year Through 2030

A dirt path leads from the pitcher’s mound to home plate, where the batter’s cutout area is shaped like home plate.

As a tribute to Tiger Stadium, the flagpole located between center field and left field was originally up for grabs. That changed after the 2002 season when the left field wall was moved.

The original seating capacity was 40,000. In 2005 the right field bullpens were moved and 950 seats added in their place.

The Checker Sedan is a premium mode of transportation that Tiger fans use to get to and from the park. inspector, [http://www.checkersedan.com], was established in March 2000 and has become the fastest growing chauffeured licensed luxury sedan company in the Detroit metropolitan area. Checker Sedan is a subsidiary of Soave Enterprises, a private investment and management company founded by Detroit businessman Anthony L. Soave. Checker Sedan is the official curbside luxury sedan supplier for the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.