FACILITY NOTES: ROCKETS SAY NEW PAD CAN BE BUILT FOR $158M

          The Rockets believe a new arena can be built in Houston
     for $158M, which would place it in the "middle range" of
     such U.S. facilities.  In a letter to Harris County-Houston
     Sports Authority members, Rockets Senior Exec VP John Thomas
     said that Turner Construction made the estimate under
     direction to come up with the "most favorable middle-market
     deal" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/24)....In AZ, NFL Cardinals
     execs and a stadium-support group "are confident enough"
     that a proposed multipurpose stadium will be built that they
     "already" hired lead architect Peter Eisenman (DAILY STAR,
     2/22)....In Boston, Nick Cafardo reported that 400,000 out-
     of-state ticket buyers watched the Patriots, Revolution and
     rock concerts at Foxboro Stadium in '97, creating an
     economic impact of about $12M (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/22).