Atlanta Mayor Says Turner Field To Be Demolished in 2017

Atlanta's mayor says the city will demolish Turner Field after the Braves leave for a new stadium in the suburbs in 2017.

Mayor Kasim Reed said Tuesday during a press conference that the stadium will not be left vacant after the team starts playing at a new field in Cobb County.

Reed says the land will be used to create a development for middle-class people.

Reed also says that Atlanta had hoped to keep the team in the city but could not afford to do so. He says the city would have had to take on $150 million to $250 million in debt to make the improvements the Braves wanted at Turner Field. He said that doing so would not have allowed the city to accomplish other goals.