Pelicans GM Dell Demps said the team's new $10M training facility in Metairie, La., has "all the amenities a team could ever want," according to Darrell Williams of the Baton Rouge ADVOCATE. Construction on the 50,000-square-foot facility "began the first week of December and was finished in late August." Pelicans Owner Tom Benson said, "We believe we have the finest facility in the NBA." Williams writes the entrance of the new facility has "much to like, starting with finger-access security that allows players to come in at any time." The building also features a board room and a weight room, which Demps said was "five times" the size of the team's weight room at the Alario Center, its practice home since relocating to New Orleans in '02. Pelicans players entering from the rear of the facility "will pass an autograph room," while a theater in the building "has inclined stadium seating." There is a breakfast room, but that is "not to be confused with the cafeteria, which is a short walk across the parking lot." There also are "two pristine basketball courts." Woodward Design & Build is "still building The Fourth Down Cafe, which is where players will get nutritious protein shakes and the like" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 9/18).
