NEWS FROM CINCINNATI: In Cincinnati, Ken Alltucker
wrote that contractors "are threatening to walk away" from
the new Reds ballpark if Hamilton County "requires them to
use one insurance company" for the $280M project. Judy
Short, Exec Dir of Allied Construction Industries, a local
trade group, said that the county's plan "would inflate
costs, reveal private financial information and protect
fiscally weak contractors." At "issue" is a proposal to use
a "wrap" plan designating one insurer for all contractors
bidding for work at the ballpark (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
8/13).....The CINCINNATI POST cited Paul Brown Stadium
construction officials as saying that "some of the thousands
of steps" in the facility's seating bowl "were built too
tall or too short to meet building codes, and have to be
modified." Project Manager Dan Streyle estimated the number
at "less than 10 percent of the steps." The report added
that Metromont Prestress Co. "must absorb the repair cost"
(CINCINNATI POST, 8/12). Also in Cincinnati, Dan Klepal
examined the process in building the stadium and wrote it is
"nearing the end of a seven-year odyssey that started when
[Bengals President Mike] Brown first threatened to pull the
Bengals out of Cincinnati if he didn't get a new home for
the team." More Klepal: "Politically, it has taken years of
backroom deals, often made at the last possible moment, to
keep the project moving forward" (CINCY ENQUIRER, 8/13).
HOME, SWEET HOME: In DC, Thomas Heath wrote that U.S.
soccer officials "would like to limit the sale of the seats
closest" to the field to those fans "most supportive" of the
U.S. men's national team for its World Cup qualifying match
on September 3 versus Guatemala at RFK Stadium. That "would
largely restrict" fans rooting for Guatemala to the upper
deck. While some fans are "crying foul," the USSF said that
it is "using a legitimate home-field tactic -- just as the
Guatemalans did" against the U.S. for their match last month
in Mazatenango. USSF Dir of Communications Jim Moorhouse:
"It's extremely common in international soccer competition
that visitors can only buy tickets in one part of the
stadium. So for us, that's upstairs. The goal for every
home game is to have a pro-American crowd" (WA. POST, 8/12).
NOTES: DOW JONES NEWSWIRES' Anne Brady wrote that
Peoria, AZ, Mayor John Keegan "is attempting to organize an
intergovernmental public/private partnership to present a
proposal to build" a new stadium for the NFL Cardinals on
the west side of town. Keegan: "I never said this would be
easy. There are some monumental issues to be addressed."
Brady notes that among them is a state law requiring
governmental entities "involved in a stadium project to pay
for infrastructure improvements and parking, estimated to
cost" $35M. Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza said that spending
more than $3M for parking and infrastructure improvements
"would require voter approval" in Phoenix, and added that he
"isn't willing to go to voters with that" (DOW JONES
NEWSWIRES, 8/14)....A Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE editorial
stated, "We share the Vikings' frustration with a Metrodome
that's clearly obsolete in its current form. With the NFL
controlling all other competitive factors, a good stadium is
the only financial leverage a team has. ... If the team
wants to make headway it must try harder to respond to this
state's populist sensibilities" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE,
8/12)....In S.F., Ken Garcia, on Mayor Willie Brown
considering a 20,000-seat sports arena adjacent to Pac Bell
Park: "I realize the mayor thinks his legacy will be
measured by the volume of concrete he pours during his term,
but giant empty structures don't add a lot of aesthetics to
the local landscape" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/12).
