MD officials say construction of the Ravens' new
stadium is "on budget and on time" for the '98 season,
according to Paul Valentine of the WASHINGTON POST. The
stadium's financing plan has been "slightly altered," but MD
Stadium Authority (MSA) Exec Dir Bruce Hoffman said that
more public money will not be requested. Also "in the early
stages of study" is an "urban entertainment center" between
the stadiums which would include a hotel, movie theaters,
restaurants and a sports museum. It would take some of the
4,000 parking spaces between the stadium and Oriole Park,
but Hoffman said that "would be more than offset" by
construction of a 2,000-car garage (WASHINGTON POST, 4/17).
In Baltimore, Jon Morgan writes that the dispute over
Orioles parking "has become the latest flash point in a
rapidly deteriorating relationship" between the MSA and the
Orioles. Morgan: "Each side accuses the other of dragging
its feet and inconveniencing fans whose spaces were
displaced by the construction of the Ravens' stadium. The
rhetoric has become lively" (Baltimore SUN, 4/17).
