Eagles President Don Smolenski yesterday said that the team "received NFL backing" to proceed with plans to renovate Lincoln Financial Field. In Philadelphia, Jeff McLane notes while a formal announcement "is forthcoming, the Eagles have spoken freely about some of the modernizations they had planned for their stadium, including bringing the jumbo video screens up to high definition standards." The team has "discussed the possibility of adding seats and filling in the empty spaces in the northeast and southeast corners of the stadium." The venue's current seating capacity is approximately 69,000 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/22).
BRIDGE TO VALHALLA: In Minneapolis, Richard Meryhew notes three local companies "are in the running to build a parking and skyway development" that will connect to the Vikings' new stadium. Local developers Ryan Cos., Basant Kharbanda and Vedi Associates each submitted bids to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority this week. The RFP "called for 2,000 parking spaces within one block of the stadium that would be connected by skyway or tunnel and another 500 spaces to be located within two blocks with a dedicated walkway on game days" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 5/22).
YOU'RE BLOCKING MY VIEW: Former S.F. Mayor Art Agnos wrote a special to the S.F. CHRONICLE under the header, "Warriors Arena Not Right For Waterfront." Agnos: "The billionaire owners of the Warriors chose the most beautiful spot on the waterfront to propose pouring tons of concrete into the bay for a publicly subsidized, 12 1/2-story entertainment complex with no public parking; and across the street stuff a 17-story luxury high-rise condominium building, a 10-story, twin-towers hotel and enough retail space that could encompass most of the restaurants at Fisherman's Wharf. Would I love to see the Warriors come to San Francisco? Of course -- but not at any cost!" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/20).
