ONE BRICK AT A TIME: In DC, Eric Fisher writes with the
"building boom" slowing down in the four major pro leagues,
minor league baseball "has become ground zero" for stadium
architects, construction firms and, "most important, team
owners eager to maximize revenue." Eight ballparks have
opened this spring, and "with at least another 10 on deck
for 2001 and perhaps that many again in 2002, the minors are
entertaining their biggest building boom in history." K.C.-
based HNTB Dir of Minor League Baseball Design Martin
DiNitto: "It's the convergence of a lot of things.
Attendance is still way up, a lot of stadiums found they
needed to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act
and found that building new was a better way to go. And of
course, owners want to modernize and provide the amenities
that are now in demand" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 5/19).
IN MIDDLE AMERICA: In Omaha, NE, Robert Dorr wrote that
First National Bank of Omaha has committed $5M and Mutual of
Omaha $2M to help build the $281M Omaha convention center-
arena approved by voters last week. The two gifts are part
of a $75M contribution that business leader DonorsTrust,
raised privately for the facility (WORLD-HERALD, 5/18).
Build It Omaha Campaign Manager David Kramer said that the
city "should find out how much private interests would pay
for the right to name the city's convention center-arena."
DonorsTrust's Ken Stinson said that the naming rights "might
bring" $1-2M per year (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 5/18).
