Venue News & Notes: San Diego Stalemate

…Despite negotiations that have dragged on for
almost a year, San Diego State and the city of
San Diego have failed to reach a new
long-term agreement for the Aztecs to play football at Qualcomm Stadium. Now
the two sides may be forced to work out a short-term, two-game permit that will
allow SDSU to finish
the season at the city-owned venue…
…When the Red Sox spend the 2012 season commemorating
the 100th anniversary of
Fenway
Park, there’s a chance
there will be a centerpiece event that would have emotions stirring throughout
the game. Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino confirmed this week that the
club has already requested to Major League Baseball that
Boston have an upcoming
All-Star Game at Fenway, preferably in 2012…
…A ruling on the
University of Oregon’s
application for a conditional-use permit to build a long-planned basketball
arena is expected to come this week. The permit would allow
Oregon to start
construction on the 12,500-seat arena, which will cost nearly $250 million
including land and a parking structure, to replace 82-year-old
McArthur Court. It
is scheduled to open for the 2010-11 basketball season…
…The
University
of Utah announced this
week the selection of an out-of-state developer to complete its new stadium-lot
development, entitled the Universe Project. Inland American Communities Group
Inc., which has offices in Tempe, Ariz., Dallas, and
Atlanta, was selected to
construct the mixed-use,
transit-oriented project on the southwest corner of campus — an area Inland
calls an “edge of prime location…”
…Voters decided to give Harrison Stadium in Oroville, CA, a major makeover
this week, with late-night results showing the likely passage of Measure G.
Backed by the
Oroville
Union High
School District, the $12 million bond measure
was supported by 58 percent of voters…
…As Shea and Yankee Stadiums near completion, the
cost to
taxpayers is anything but small, a review of the projects shows. Though the
teams are indeed paying about $2 billion to erect the two stadiums, the cost to
the city for infrastructure — parks, garages and transportation improvements —
has jumped to about $458 million, from $281 million in 2005. The Bloomberg
administration says that keeping the Yankees in the Bronx and the Mets in Queens not only creates temporary construction and
permanent stadium jobs, but also is crucial to the city’s image…
…The Yankees improperly deducted more than
$11million from their annual rent bill for Yankee Stadium over a four-year
period, city Controller William Thompson has found. Thompson said the team has agreed to pay it all
back — with interest. The richest franchise in baseball overstated expenses by
more than $24 million from 2003 to 2006, which allowed it to underpay
its rent bill on the city-owned stadium…