IN TAMPA, RAYS HAVING A DEVIL OF A TIME WITH TROPICANA FIELD

          Efforts to get Tropicana Field ready for the Devil Rays
     opener on Tuesday "are running into a stack of problems,"
     with the "biggest headache" being a lack of glass,
     "especially glass that fits," according to David Rogers of
     the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES.  Assistant city attorney Mirella
     James sent a "blistering letter" to FL-based BCI Industries,
     the contractor for the glass installation, which "detailed
     the civic humiliation" the city has endured.  James wrote
     that the leaks in the facility's rotunda during last week's
     NCAA tournament generated "negative news coverage" for the
     stadium and caused "irreparable harm" to the community and
     to the Devil Rays.  The Devil Rays had no comment on the
     situation.  Rogers writes that the glass dispute "merely
     tops the list" of problems at Tropicana.  As of yesterday,
     "only about" one-third of the temporary seating erected for
     the NCAAs had been dismantled, and crews "still need several
     days" to haul in the dirt and unroll the surface of the
     Devil Rays' field (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/24).
          MORE TROUBLE? Tampa Bay resident and disabled activist
     George Locascio says that Tropicana Field is "deficient of
     state and federal standards for disabled people."  Locascio,
     who in '91 successfully sued the city and forced officials
     to add "about" $700,000 worth of improvements to make the
     stadium more accessible for disabled visitors, voiced his
     feelings yesterday at a meeting of stadium architects, city
     lawyers and disabled activists.  City lawyer Mirella James
     and legal consultant Fred Lyon said that they met with Devil
     Rays managing partner Vince Naimoli yesterday to "review ADA
     compliance and other problems" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/25).