NFL Lockout Watch, Day 32: Super Bowl Host Committee Moving Ahead With Plans

Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee Chair Mark Miles is "still moving ahead, as scheduled, with his plans" in spite of the ongoing NFL lockout, according to Michael Marot of the AP. The countdown to the game "hit 300 days" yesterday, and Miles said, "We're doing our thing and we are doing what needs to be done and not let it (the lockout) become a distraction." The "biggest question" for the committee is "whether the game will be played as scheduled on Feb. 5." League officials "asked the committee to keep the following week open in case there was a postponement," and Miles said, "There are two dates -- Feb. 5 and Feb. 12, that's it." Marot noted the committee has $35M worth of construction projects "under way on the city's near east side, another major construction project in full throttle downtown and 60 committees trying to fine-tune details." Host Committee President & CEO Allison Melangton yesterday acknowledged that the committee "dealing with weather concerns has met three times in the last six weeks, and two other committees are looking extensively [at] transportation and law enforcement issues." Miles noted that league officials "gave the host committee high [marks] after a recent meeting in New York regarding the plans" (AP, 4/11). Committee officials yesterday said that "everything is on schedule." Miles added that he is "not losing sleep yet" over the lockout, as it is "playing out about as he expected." Miles: "If something was concluded earlier than perhaps we expect, then that would be great. But we're in this for the long haul." In Indianapolis, Jon Murray notes Miles and Melangton yesterday "provided an update on prep work by 60 committees and 200 subcommittees." The host committee has "targeted the long-decaying Near Eastside for a half-dozen 'legacy projects' worth" $35M (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/12).