The Lions "will announce today that they have hired"
Detroit-based firms Rosetti Associates Architects, Hamilton-
Anderson Associates and SHG Inc. to design the team's new
stadium and prepare the construction blueprints, according
to Fricker & Montemurri of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Fricker
& Montemurri write that the $225M downtown dome "could have
a glass wall or retractable wall because the team owners,
the Ford family, want the city to be part of the stadium
experience." Don Loudermilk, a principal at Rosetti: "The
charge that we've been given by the Fords and the Lions
organization is to make a truly unusual experience in
stadiums, that when you go there it's like something you
never experienced in your life." Lions Dir of Stadium
Development Tom Lewand, on choosing local firms: "They are
all part of the fabric of the city for so many years and
that set them apart." Rosetti's Loudermilk said the Ford
family wants a stadium that, "like recent baseball stadiums,
has distinctive architecture." Fricker & Montemurri write
that "the design team also is looking at whether the dome
should be fixed or retractable, the turf natural, artificial
or a combination, and whether to equip the stadium with so-
called smart seats ... that allow fans to order food and
retrieve game statistics" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/25).
