Tokyo Governor Koike asked to stop $2.45 billion plan to remake park, famous baseball stadium

By STEPHEN WADE
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has been asked to stop a disputed $2.45 billion project that would turn a city park district into a largely commercial area anchored by three skyscrapers. The project also threatens nearly 150 ginkgo trees, a species that is considered a living fossil. The project would also raze — and rebuild — a famous baseball stadium where Babe Ruth played. A group of 420 outside experts including architects, urban planners and economists demanded in an open letter and news conference that the project be suspended and suggested Koike was ignoring public discontent and bowing to commercial interests.