PADRES TAKE STEPS TO KEEP PARK MOVING WITH NEW INVESTMENT

          The Padres have agreed to "pump as much as" an
     additional $47.8M into their downtown ballpark project to
     "keep it going," according to a financial plan released
     Wednesday cited by Ray Huard of the SAN DIEGO UNION-
     TRIBUNE.  The additional funds would cover "up to" $30.3M of
     the rising land acquisition costs at the downtown ballpark
     site and $17.5M toward increased construction design costs. 
     Other "key elements" in the plan include the team's ability
     to continue playing in Qualcomm Stadium until the new
     ballpark is completed.  Also as part of the plan, the Padres
     will build a $10.3M parking garage that the "city had
     originally agreed to construct."  However, the city will own
     the garage, and the team will lease it for $300,000 a year. 
     Padres President Larry Lucchino, on the team's added
     investment: "It's all designed to keep the project moving
     forward and get it done" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/27).