Venue News & Notes: One Company’s Failure Is One Team’s Future?

Topping this week’s venue news and notes is the promise of rebirth in suburban Atlanta, where a developer reportedly wants to build a $1 billion retractable-roof stadium at the site of a closed General Motors plant. GM closed the 60-year-old facility in September and has since considered proposals from companies seeking to redevelop the 165-acre site. The Falcons are bound by a lease to play in the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta through 2020, but team owner Arthur Blank said in 2006 he wanted to start negotiating a new downtown Atlanta stadium.

…The Atlanta Falcons have had “preliminary discussions” with a developer that wants to build a $1 billion retractable-roof stadium at the sprawling site of a closed General Motors plant in Atlanta, the team’s president said this week. The Sembler Co. has proposed building the stadium on a 90-acre plot at the site; the rest of the site would be developed into retail and residential properties…

…Aloha Stadium in Honolulu is receiving $4 million to design future renovations and improvements. Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle released the funds, which are not included in the nearly $1.9 billion public-infrastructure construction plan unveiled earlier this month to stimulate the economy and create jobs…

…Harris County, TX, Commissioners El Franco Lee and Sylvia Garcia have tentatively agreed to contribute $10 million in public money to the Houston Dynamo stadium project, provided the team and the city agree to certain conditions. The proposal the commissioners sent the city this week states that the money would have to be used to build the public amenities and infrastructure serving the stadium, rather than the physical structure itself. That might include the water and sewer lines for the stadium or the parking lots and tree-lined plazas surrounding it…

…Nevada’s Sparks City Council decided this week to set aside more than three acres of land for a sports arena. It will cost nearly $3 million to secure the land next to the Legends at Sparks Marina. It’s the same land where the new Triple-A baseball stadium was going to be built; it has been moved to downtown Reno. Right now, there are no concrete plans for an arena, but the council wanted to secure the land for the future.