DC'S AMAZING SHRINKING ARENA -- PLANS CALL FOR 20,000 SEATS

     Plans for the new arena in downtown Washington call for the
facility to seat 20,000, less than the 23,000-24,000 originally
expected.  Bullets/Capitals owner Abe Pollin unveiled plans for
the new $180M facility yesterday.  Planners say the size will not
affect arena revenue because estimates were based on seating less
than 20,000.  In other news, the Smithsonian Institution's top
official has informed the DC Council that the new arena "could
destroy business" at two nearby museums.  Smithsonian Secretary
Michael Heyman said "arena traffic could overwhelm" the area
around the National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of
American Art and that the museums could be damaged by the
construction (Woellert & Stanley, WASHINGTON TIMES, 3/17).