Facility Notes

Penguins Will Seek LEED Gold Certification For New Consol Energy Center

In Pittsburgh, Mark Belko notes the Penguins for their new Consol Energy Center "will seek a LEED Gold certification," the "second-highest of the four possible certifications under LEED." The LEED Gold rating would be the "first for any major sports venue in the country." The team "won't know for sure until after the arena opens whether it achieved the designation," but Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer said that he is "'pretty comfortable' that there will be more than enough points available to earn the rating" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/23).

DIGGING FOR GOLD: In S.F., Cote & Knight report city documents indicated that the 49ers owe the city "more than $500,000 in miscalculated game-day parking payments." The parking issue is the "central item in a new draft audit report of the team's Candlestick Park lease deal with the city." The team "argues that they pay for all 7,000 spots they use in a city lot, but not more." However, the city "contends that parking rent must be paid on a percentage of all spaces sold, not on the lot size." 49ers VP/Stadium Operations & Security Jim Mercurio in a letter to the city also noted that the audit claims the city "may have lost thousands of dollars from repair work the team did at the city-owned stadium in exchange for rent credit" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/23).

EXECUTIVE ORDER: New York State Supreme Court Justice John Egan Jr. is "ordering the Yankees to give him financial records sought by state lawmakers investigating the use of public funds to help build the team's new stadium, or prove the data should remain private." Two Assembly committees "subpoenaed the records in January in the escalating fight with the team, but the Yankees withheld some key documents involving ticket prices and why some city officials received luxury box tickets" (AP, 4/22).

TWO FOR THE MONEY: In New Jersey, John Brennan reports eight North Jersey Democratic lawmakers yesterday "backed the idea of a 'modernized Izod Center' in a letter to" New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. New Jersey state Sen. Paul Sarlo said that if the Nets are "unable to achieve a planned move to Brooklyn, it would be a 'no-brainer' for the franchise to remain in the Meadowlands." Sarlo said that the Devils' status as chief tenant at the Prudential Center "would lead the NBA to frown on a Nets shift to Newark" (Bergen RECORD, 4/23).