The newest plans for an open-air riverfront NFL stadium in St. Louis "add a translucent lip girding the arena, giant televisions that rise with the stadium walls and greener, more geometric parking," according to a front-page piece by David Hunn of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Drawings released yesterday "keep a few historic buildings, deemed too important, so far, to bulldoze." Stadium consultant David Peacock said that the changes "are mostly practical." The Army Corps of Engineers "asked the planners to keep lighting from affecting river traffic, and, at the same time, the design firm HOK was tracking wind patterns." So light towers "were scrapped and a roof lip developed to block wind and contain field lighting, angled downward instead of out." Planners "pushed club seats more to the center," and the "angular end zone replay screens ... were developed to fit the rising line of the stadium wall." Peacock said that the new venue "loses a few seats," dropping from 64,000 "to about 62,000." Hunn notes designers "also wanted" standing-room areas, as well as "sponsor decks and plenty of open space." There also is "still plenty of room for temporary seating, to accommodate big events like Super Bowls, should one come" to the city (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/3). In St. Louis, Brian Feldt reported the St. Louis Regional Convention & Sports Complex Authority has "hired five new consultants to help develop the planned NFL stadium," including California-based Barrett Sports Group; Kansas-based Columbia Capital Management; St. Louis-based Downtown Now Inc.; Philadelphia-based SMG and St. Louis-based FleishmanHillard. The consultants "join facility construction consultant John Loyd." RFPs for the development of the stadium "also are expected to be released this week" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/2).
LOS ANGELENOS ALL COME FROM SOMEWHERE: The Rams, Raiders and Chargers have all been linked to L.A. in recent months, and NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman said which team will end up being in L.A. “depends on some tangibles and some things they can control, and it depends on some intangibles and some things they can’t control.” The tangibles include the “nature of the stadium and the site that they’re pursuing” and the cost of building a stadium and moving. Some intangibles are what the "voting sentiments of their fellow owners” will be and what they “can’t control," including the "reactions of their home markets.” L.A. Times columnist Sam Farmer said placing a team in the L.A. market is front and center because the NFL has its “labor situation solved for years to come, TV is off into the horizon and you have three teams who are on year-to-year leases.” ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner noted the city of St. Louis is “taking the steps necessary to get to the finish line” and keep the Rams in St. Louis. However, until the city gets financing in place -- and it "still remains to be seen whether that has to go to a public vote or not -- we won’t really know how realistic this is because money is the thing that drives this whole situation.” ESPN’s Jim Trotter said the Chargers are concerned about the Rams' efforts to move to L.A. because the Chargers claim 25-30% of their season-ticket holders “come from Orange County and L.A. County." Trotter: "If a team goes into L.A., they’re afraid that that’s going to cripple them economically" ("Outside The Lines," ESPN, 3/2).
