KC-based HOK Sports Facilities Group will design the
retractable-roof stadium for the Astros (HOK). ....The Lightning
and Ice Palace have retained Kevin McGuire, President of McGuire
Associates, to provide counsel regarding compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) issues at the arena. The
firm provides consulting in implementing ADA policies (Ice
Palace). Arrangements for disabled patrons at the Ice Palace will
feature special parking and concessions, braille menus at
refreshment counters, workers trained in sign language and
"about" 365 seats at Lightning games (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 9/27).
...Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said he is
"convinced" that Sacramento will "likely need public financing,
in the form of some sort of tax, to help pay for a new ballpark."
He also said that to attract a baseball team to the area, a
stadium may have to be built first or have financing "firmly in
place." Dickinson made these observations after taking a trip
with business and government leaders to Denver to tour Coors
Field. The $5,000 trip was paid for "through a variety of
sources including Sacramento County, the sports commission and
the chamber of commerce," although Dickinson added that he "paid
his own airfare" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 9/29)....Columnist Bob Ryan, on
the last NASCAR race at North Wilkesboro, NC: "North Wilkesboro
is what NASCAR has always been about. But no longer. NASCAR has
now gone big. It's gone corporate. You now have to have a $100
million track that seats 150,000 people. There's no room for the
40,000 people in Wilkesboro, North Carolina" ("The
SportsReporters," ESPN, 9/29).....Bank One Ballpark will have
more restrooms than required by code, including 25% more
facilities for women than men. The 24,500-seat facility will
feature 340 toilets for women and 273 for men (ARIZONA REPUBLIC,
9/29).
