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| AT&T Center will add new video panels at the box office |
SI.com's Tim Newcomb noted AT&T Center's
planned $100M renovation this summer and fall will include "upgrades on all five levels" of the venue. Spurs fans can "expect all new seating, including some sight-line changes on the lower level, expanded entrances and renovated concourses." Two new bars and an expanded fan shop "highlight the general fan-friendly additions outside the seating bowl." A new videoboard "will boast four times the amount of video space as the current iteration, and expect new LED ribbon panels, new main panels on the box office towers and a new audio system" (
SI.com, 4/7).
SAFE HARBOR: In N.Y., Stephen Lorenzo noted Barclays Center yesterday “broke ground” on the venue's “new Islanders campus.” The facility will include “a new oval-shaped locker room, custom wood lockers, a players’ lounge and dining area, treatment and training rooms, a coaches’ suite, fitness facilities, a game video screening room, therapeutic cold tubs and state-of-the-art technology.” The accommodations are “expected to be completed by mid-August, just prior to training camp” (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 4/7).
STARING AT THE SUN: In Utah, Jasen Lee notes Real Salt Lake yesterday “announced plans to construct a 2,020-kilowatt solar panel array system that will generate” about 73% of the electricity needed annually to operate Rio Tinto Stadium. A system of 6,414 solar panels is “being set up on the existing stadium structure as well as new covered parking areas.” The project is “expected to be completed and operational in October.” Auric Solar Commercial Sales Manager Nic Evans said, “It’s approximately a $6 million project. This is the largest (such project) in the state and one of the largest in the United States” (DESERET NEWS, 4/8).
LOOKING FOR COOLER HEADS: A TAMPA BAY TIMES editorial states “continuing this staredown” between St. Petersburg officials and the Rays over a new ballpark “is not productive” for the city, the franchise or taxpayers. Mayor Rick Kriseman and Rays Owner Stuart Sternberg’s "frustration with five City Council members who have been too parochial, too insecure and too fearful of being duped by the Rays to support a fair agreement is understandable.” Kriseman and Sternberg "should attend the City Council workshop" on May 7. But Sternberg this week said that the team is "done negotiating until the end of the season." That "sends the wrong message to council members." The answer "is engagement, not isolation” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 4/8).
