Facility Notes

In Detroit, Tom Walsh reports Andreas Apostolopoulos, the "improbable new owner of the Pontiac Silverdome, vows to revive the stadium as a big-event venue by investing millions of dollars in a place he bought for a meager $583,000." He has been "spending 75% of his time in and around Pontiac to make that happen, hiring contractors to paint, do electrical work, flush every toilet and turn on every faucet to get the building ready for crowds." Apostolopoulos: "We're gonna spend a lot of money here, create a lot of jobs, meet a lot of new people. It's not for sale, and it's never gonna be for sale." Apostolopoulos today is "expected to announce upcoming event plans and the hiring of a general manager" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/11).

Three Banks Put In Proposals To Handle Financing Of New Florida Atlantic Univ. Stadium

END OF AN ERA: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir cites officials as saying that the city is "spending about $25[M] to demolish" the old Yankee Stadium, and the city "expects to finish in June and start building a community park with three ball fields." City officials giving a press tour of the demolition yesterday said that they have "no intention of saving Gate 2, as preservation-minded advocates want, because keeping it would interfere with the location of the fields" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/11).

CLEARING A HURDLE: Florida Atlantic Univ. AD Craig Angelos Tuesday said that "three banks had put in proposals to handle financing" on the school's new football stadium, and that there is a "meeting Monday to go over the specifics of each proposal." In Ft. Lauderdale, Ted Hutton wrote, "What this means is the stadium has, at least for now, cleared another hurdle. If no bank had been interested, or only one, things would have gotten sticky" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 3/10).