Glendale Stadium Area To Receive Improvements

The Arizona Sports & Tourism Authority and the city of Glendale have “sealed a deal to finance $53.9[M] in improvements” around the NFL Cardinals’ new stadium, according to Pat Flannery of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The agreement permits “roughly $33[M] in bonds to be sold” by the end of November to help finance new roads, sewers, utilities, parking lots and other infrastructure around the stadium. Bond funds will be combined with money from the Cardinals, the state Department of Transportation, Glendale and the Fiesta Bowl “to pay for the various external projects,” which include a new half-interchange and a bridge. The bonds “will be issued by the sports authority and retired over 30 years, using city sales-tax revenue from stadium activities pledged to the authority by Glendale and parking surcharges added to tickets for stadium events.” The stadium is “more than a third” finished and on track to open in August ’06. The agreement was the “last major piece of the construction puzzle to fall into place” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/8).