The Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE reported construction workers on Monday "began harvesting items so fans could remember the Metrodome," which is being torn down. Part of the job, which is being handled by Albrecht Sign Co., is "salvaging about 20,000 of the stadium’s aging but still usable bright blue seats," which fans can buy for $60 each. Community organizations and nonprofit groups "will be charged $40 a seat," while fans with an attachment to a specific seat or group of seats "will be charged $80 each." The facility "had more than 60,000 blue seats." Orders "must be placed with Albrecht by Jan. 7," and orders for more than 200 seats "must be received by the firm" today (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/31).
IN WITH THE NEW: In San Jose, Mark Purdy wrote when Levi's Stadium opens later this year, everything "won't be perfect right out of the gate," as new venues "always have glitches." Purdy: "But based on my construction tours and interviews over the past two years, I'm confident all those fans who have forked over money for season tickets ... will have a delightfully smoother game-day experience than they did at Candlestick." The freeways in Santa Clara "run both ways" and there will be "11 freeway interchanges to access the stadium area, roughly three times as many as Candlestick." There also are "public rail options." In addition, Levi's Stadium will have 28% "more plumbing fixtures than Candlestick, which amounts to 250 more toilets" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 12/29).
SPEED WALKING: In Daytona Beach, Mark Harper reports Florida state officials are putting nearly $20M into their budget to "add pedestrian-friendly pathways along International Speedway Boulevard to accommodate the millions of people expected to visit the renovated Daytona International Speedway and a new complex planned across the street." State officials in a statement said that safety "is the primary justification" for the project. ISC and Jacoby Development Inc. "expect to break ground in mid-2014 on the first phase of One Daytona." DIS Senior Manager of Media Relations Andrew Booth said that "the pedestrian improvements will help" with the influx of visitors (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 1/2).
