Facility Notes

In Ft. Worth, Andrea Ahles noted the "outline of the roof hole has taken shape" at the Cowboys new $1.1B stadium in Arlington, Texas. Stadium Construction Manager Jack Hill said that installation of the retractable roof, "which will open and close over the hole, will begin in September." Thus far, according to a city document released Friday, $600M has been spent on the stadium. The city's portion, which is "capped at $325[M], is $296.6[M] to date" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/21).

49ers Might Be Willing To Buy Great America Theme Park To Make Way For New Stadium

NOISY NEIGHBORS: In San Jose, Mike Swift reported theme park owner Cedar Fair Entertainment, which owns Great America theme park in Santa Clara, said that a potential 49ers stadium "next door would be bad for business, so it might sell the park." And Swift noted the 49ers "might be willing to buy it." Sources said that Cedar Fair's "asking price is over $110[M]." This price is "far more than $44[M] -- the value that the company is claiming the park is worth in its fight with the county assessor." Neither 49ers officials nor Cedar Fair execs "would confirm the $110[M] price or provide much commentary about where the talks stand" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/21).

RAY OF PROGRESS: In St. Petersburg, Aaron Sharockman reports the community coalition that will look for a place to build the new Rays ballpark will be called A Baseball Community (ABC) Inc. ABC Chair and Progress Energy President & COO Jeff Lyash said that ABC "will include nine members and take up to 18 months to complete its work." ABC, a nonprofit coalition, "will rely on private donations, not money from government or the Rays," and "board members will be unpaid." Lyash added that "besides the stadium quest, the coalition will attempt to build fan and business support for the Rays" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 7/22).

BIGGER IS BETTER: In Portland, Ryan White reports at the Univ. of Oregon's (UO) Autzen Stadium a new 88 foot wide and 33 foot high video board is going up, dimensions "which [make] it bigger than the board Oregon State installed at Reser Stadium before last season." The board at Oregon State had been the "biggest in the Pacific-10 Conference."  UO Senior Associate AD/Development Jim Bartko said that the $67.14M media-rights deal UO agreed to with IMG in February "included $4[M] for new video boards" (Portland OREGONIAN, 7/22).