In Pasadena, Brenda Gazzar reports Rose Bowl officials are "on track to complete" much of the first phase of the stadium's $152M renovation in time for this summer's Gold Cup Final. Rose Bowl CEO & GM Darryl Dunn said that "holding a major event in the midst of construction will entail making sure work is stopped, that everything is cleaned up for the event and then ready for the renovation to resume the following day." By the June 25 game, "four newly widened tunnels on the south side will be open for public use and a new LED video board -- which will be more than twice the size of the previous one -- and six new advertising panels are expected to be up and functional on the north end" (PASADENA STAR-NEWS, 5/11).
WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE: Univ. of South Florida Exec Associate AD Bill McGillis Monday said that the school's $35M renovation of the Sun Dome "has likely been pushed back to June due to 'procedural' delays, and those delays will force the Bulls' men's and women's basketball teams to play part of their 2012 Big East conference schedule off campus." McGillis said that the "opening of the renovated arena, which USF officials had once hoped would be in place for fall graduation in December, has now been pushed back" to February. He said that "as many Big East games as possible will be played at the St. Pete Times Forum downtown, which can accommodate larger crowds and helps minimize the inconvenience for season-ticket holders" (TAMPABAY.com, 5/9).
POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Carson City District Court Judge James Todd Russell ruled Monday that Nevada voters "can decide whether to raise the sales tax to help pay for a $500 million arena on land that Caesars Entertainment owns near Imperial Palace." Russell said that the Las Vegas Arena Foundation and Caesars "had gathered enough valid signatures during a petition drive to place the measure on the ballot, and he denied opponents' efforts to derail it." The petition "enabled the proposal to be heard in the Legislature" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/11).
GRIN & BEAR IT: In S.F., Vittorio Tafur reports the first phase of the $321M renovation of the Univ. of California's Memorial Stadium "is all but complete." The football stadium is "now an empty bowl after four months of demolition and dirt removal." The "second of the four steps, the rebuilding of the structure and the installing of a press box, is under way and should take close to seven months as workers push hard to make their September 2012 deadline" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/11).
