In Louisville, Marty Finley reported Churchill Downs is investing $32M to "improve the parking and transportation experience for fans." The track said it will add a "significantly enlarged, highly efficient" bus depot to create better flow. The depot will be "bolstered by a new pedestrian plaza and enlarged paddock entrance gate." That new entrance will "replace gates 1 and 17 and create more plaza space inside the track." Other enhancements include "new outdoor LED lighting and a perimeter fence designed to improve pedestrian safety and mobility" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/31).
CIVIC DUTY: In Pittsburgh, Mark Belko notes Mayor Bill Peduto and Penguins President & CEO David Morehouse "may have found common ground on ways to get development rolling on the 28-acre former Civic Arena site." Peduto said a meeting with Morehouse led to an “agreement in principal over the main issues” that have stalled a deal. He added that he "hoped to have an agreement with the team within 24 hours to take back to the public authorities involved." The deal would "include adjusted timetables for the development of the land, determine and impose penalties for missing deadlines, and make other modifications to the 2007 agreement that gave the Penguins the rights to the land." Peduto said that it would all come "without increasing the 10-year period they have to build it out" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 11/1).
STICKING TO SCRIPT: In Providence, Patrick Anderson in a front-page piece notes Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo yesterday "stood by the current proposal to build a new ballpark" for the Triple-A Int'l League Pawtucket Red Sox. Raimondo said that state House Speaker's "concerns about public risk in the deal have not convinced her it needs to be renegotiated."Raimondo: "This deal that’s before the legislature ... protects taxpayers" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 11/1).
