The city of Hartford yesterday said that it has "agreed to pay the architect for Dunkin' Donuts Park more than $245,000 for work previously done on the minor league baseball stadium, clearing the way for the company to resume operations on the long-stalled project." Mayor Luke Bronin said that K.C.-based architect Pendulum "could start work again" as early as today. In Hartford, Steven Goode in a front-page piece notes Pendulum's return "would be significant because an architect is required to reopen the construction site and oversee the remaining work in order to complete" the ballpark. Meanwhile, Bronin said that Arch Insurance has "entered into an agreement with Pendulum to return to the ballpark" (HARTFORD COURANT, 8/3).
JAIL BREAK: In Detroit, Vince Ellis notes Pistons Owner Tom Gores and Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert in April announced a joint effort to "bring an MLS franchise to Detroit, with a preference to build a stadium on the site of the troubled Wayne County jail site." But Gores on Friday said, "Dan is working on it. We’re not married to (the jail site). What we’re married to is getting another sports team in Detroit. We think a soccer franchise in Detroit could be really good. And I think we’re going to get it there, one way or another" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 8/3).
WHAT'S IN A NAME? In K.C., Lynn Horsley noted Kemper Arena will be "renamed Mosaic Arena" under an agreement announced yesterday by Foutch Brothers, the development company that "plans to repurpose the West Bottoms arena into a regional amateur sports facility." Foutch said that it had an initial agreement yesterday for Mosaic Life Care to "become the naming rights sponsor for the arena." Once that agreement is finalized, Kemper Arena "will have a new name." In addition to purchasing the naming rights, Mosaic said that it will "open an on-site medical clinic at the arena that will be open to the public" (KANSASCITY.com, 8/2).
FIELD ACCESS: In Miami, Adam Beasley reports two-thirds of the Dolphins' new field "was put down" yesterday, and the rest "will go in" today. The turf is "called Platinum TE Paspalum, a tough, shade-tolerant (and more expensive) vintage used more on golf courses than football fields." It is a "genetically modified strain that can grow on plastic, allowing for a tougher, longer-lasting root." The Dolphins have been "practicing on it at their Davie headquarters during training camp." This week’s sod installation is "just the latest sign" that the overall stadium renovation project will "be done on time" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/3).
