The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 9

The News Tribune Wednesday January 19 2000 A9 MMO be osttosilfty irenwiedleDDinigf coln bowls From its opening in 1983 the Tacoma Dome haa been a site for high school playoff games Over the years it also has been home to the preseason high school Grid-Go-Round the PLU-UPS rivalry the Bacon Bowl and even Seattle Sea-hawks scrimmages But using the dome as a regular high school sports venue soon proved unprofitable The building is now used as a high school football stadium only two weekends per yean the state tournament semifinals and the Gridiron Classic championship games The Tacoma Dome has been host for the Gridiron Clank for five seasons and the contract runs for three more years After that no one knows Even if the dome is willing the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association sure if it wants um Frank Sinatra said never been in a place like that that sounds so good because of all the wood "More than Cheney Stadium the dome is an ongoing facility that serves the community year-round It may come down to hardcore Or it may not The City Council will decide whether the Tacoma Dome should try to serve the broadest possible public use a whrther it shaild concentrate more heavily on uses that are the most profitable City Manager Ray Corpus said this is a community asset for use by the community that could be a different thing from this being a community asset that we want to make self-supporting" Corpus said if it is self-supporting that makes other public money available for other things in the community It is primarily up to the council to make that to extend the lease said Mike Col-brese WIAA executive director Colbrese said the games might be moved to the new Seahawks stadium in Seattle Or they could be rotated to suit some Eastern Washington schools that resent having to travel west of the Cascades to compete for a championship Colbrese said the games also could be kept in Tacoma But he added that he heard that the Thco-ma Done might be reconfigured in a way that would preclude football would be a shame to see it said Scott Nordi president of the Tacoma Athletic Commission He praised the Tacoma Done as a dry comfortable and appropriately sized venue fin: the state finals and semifinals Nordi added however that the TAC supports all sports and that if the elimination of football allowed the building to become a better venue for other sports then there might be merit in the idea And long-time Tacoma booster Stan Naccarato who was instrumental in the of the mud campaign said the time has come to at least consider the idea though we talked about taking the kids out of the mud the times have Naccarato said new arenas in Seattle cast a shadow on the Tuoma Done While rd hate to hurt high school sports no mandate when they're just playing two weekends a year the Tacoma Dome seating is going to have to be drawn in to do what it does best It only makes sense for taxpayer and anyone who uses the done have to look to the future with strong faith and open eyes This is a tremendous 20000-seat auditori when the Seattle Center Coliseum became the renovated KeyArena is pretty proud of both Cheney Stadium and the dome and I think come back favorable to improvements to these Combs said These really are their facilities Whether it's a Christmas show or a hard-rock concert a heavy-metal concert or the Boston Pops we try to bring a wide variety of entertainment to the city These are amenities that the citizens would embrace because they get to feel the benefit as dl It was selling point but that was different era Br Don Rihz Thc News Tribune Is the Tacoma Dome a domed stadium or an arena? That basic question wiU determine the extent of any reconfiguration of the building and by extension whether it can continue to house high school football Traditional arena seating could make the building more competitive Ibr concerts man appealing for indoor sports and more spacious for trade shows But it also could render the building unusable for traditional outdoor sports which have been a part of its mission since the campaign slogan of a dome of our was conceived two decades ago "When the building was designed Dome Continued from A1 ing would retain a seating capacity of more than 20000 but that these seats would be closer to the performance area and could be adapted more readily for the specific needs of each event the Sabercats (hockey team) an ideal setup would be something in the 10000 range that would be more intimate for them and crate that sports arena look Combs said think we can accomplish that and still maintain our size to where if Bruce SpringBteen comes to town and we want to go up to 22000 we can do that There are a lot of arenas around the country that have done a lot with curtaining Combs said also want to create a theatrical capacity in this building where someone like Bette Midler who plays more theatrical-type facilities can come in and it feels more like an intimate While the 36 or more annual home dates make them the primary tenant they are not the primary motivation for the ren There is a single mqjar tenant at Cheney which happens to be the Corpus said The dome is different because it is mere multipurpose and there could be more partners to help with the improvements But they both are city-owned facilities so we need to take a longterm view about whatk in the best interest of the Reach staff writer Don Ruiz at 253-597-8808 or ments and improvements study That phase involves interviews with interested parties dome users tenants and community leaders for example to determine what the renovation prqject should accomplish Once the goals are established the firm would go forward with an architectural proposal The enhancements and improvements study also would provide a cost estimate for the prqject Combs said he has heard projections from $25 million to $40 million first step is to make sure we have an accurate assessment of what improvements are needed" said City Manager Ray Corpuz we would look at the financing of those improvements understanding that we have limitations on our Combs said the money could come from a variety of sources including a bond issue perhaps in combination with a proposed $20 million renovation of Cheney Stadium He also said private partnerships could be sought and that naming rights could be sold as was done Paid Advertisement just want arena look like an in the early it was originally called the Tacoma Dome Sports and Convention Complex which reaUy said Mike Combs Tacoma Dome director more of an arena than we an a stadium So rally going to have to ask sane questions drives our seating right now is full-field events like football If we come back and say it rally doesn't make good economic sense to play football in that will tell ua which directions to go in the seating core If they say Yes we still want to play football in the building then that puts ua in another direction" The ability to accommodate high school football was a selling point when Tacoma voters approved the $44 million multipurpose building in 1980 A key campaign promise was our kids out of the mud of the heavily used Stadium and Lin ovation Combs stressed that his goal is keeping the building competitive for a variety of events including the many consumer and trade shows that value floor space over seating capacity shows are some of our major Combs said seating in this building is very very labor-intensive and very cumbersome Sixty-five percent of my seats move love to have a building where you go out and push a button and the seats go into their proper Combs believes new seating technology could cluster seats closer to the walls which would increase the Tacoma Dome's usable floor space from 135 000 to 160 000 square feet That combined with the wthihitinn hall expansion to 90000 square feet would make the Tacoma Dome competitive with new exhibition halls in Seattle and Portland The renovation proposal is in an early stage called a request for qualifications In this process interested firms give their qualifications to perform the renovation prqject The submission deadline was last week The city will follow up with interviews before selecting one firm to produce what is called an enhance- guarantee you that would increase our attendance dramatically Alotofthe season ticket base is cor ed Olver said people will say we don't need that at the Ihcoma said Frank Colarusso Sabercats vice president of marketing and sales the reality of it is you find mare and more that there are companies out there who would liks to brings guests and clients and family and friends but we don't have the right setting in some The Sabercats are in the middle of the West Coast Hockey League with an average of about 4500 spectators per game They believe an ideal seating capacity for their needs would be 10000 But they accept that the building will continue to seat perhaps twice that many people Taylor stressed his understanding that the Thcoma Dome is a multipurpose building and that his hockey team is merely a tenant Unlike baseball's Tacoma Rainier who say they will leave town at the aid of their current lease if Cheney Stadium is not renovated the Sabercats say they are committed to Thco-mafor the remaining three years of their lease and beyond Wd like to have the configuration to get the feeling that you're in an ice Tsylor said like to get some suites and boxes But we get too excited yet because what if nothing happens? We are here Wete here to not tend in pipm) ri 1 I i Teachers have rights too' Everyone has the right to support the politics of his or her choice We are among the 54735 teachers who have told our union the Washington Education Association that we do not want money taken out of our paychecks to pay for union political preferences We reserve the right to make our own political decisions Unfortunately WEA officials will not take for an answer When the political fund began to dry up union leaders dipped into our regular collective bargaining dues to effect the outcome of elections Citizens should 6e toldvhen large amounts of money are spent to influence elections But our campaign finance laws that give us the right to know were eroded by a recent court decision a decision that keeps you and 67000 teachers in the dark The issue is simple: Should large corporations or unions be able to secretly spend hundreds of thousands qf dollars on elections without reporting those expenditures to the public or in this case to the unwilling teachers whose money was used One judge's disappointing answer: In a recent lawsuit against the WEA a Superior Court Judge ruled that the union does not have to get our permission to take money from our paychecks for politics nor do union officials have to report to the public what they spent to influence elections as political action committees do The judge said that amount spent to influence elections is meaningful only in relation to the total expenditures of the This is absurb! Jt means big organizations and corporations can secretly spend hundreds of thousands even millions of dollars on elections without telling anyone Why do the rules apply to the and not to organizations like our union that spend hundreds of thousands every year on politics? As teachers we want the right to our own paychecks and our own political beliefs But we think everyone should be as upset as we are that the right of the public to know who is paying money to influence elections has been taken away And luxury boxes would be nice and too Bv Don Rub The News Tribune The Thcoma Sabercats hope the Tacoma Dome will become a better place to watch hockey But the minor-league team is making no threats to leave town and it hopes only to be heard as the city debates the future of the multipurpose building like is very said Bruce Taylor Sabercats owner like to see the arena look like an arena While the Sabercats are issuing no demands they do have a wish list: suites improved sound and lighting an overhead center-ice scoreboard with video screens a better location for the restaurant and perhaps its conversion into a sports bar The Sabercats believe renovation would increase tendance by making the building part of the entertainment package which would help them expand their ticket base beyond hard-core hockey fans look at every successful qpr pro sports team in the country one common factor: a new building or a renovated one with all the bells and whistles and amenities attached to them -the luxury suites etc and generally you have very steep seating and an intimate said John Olver Sabercats head coach and general manager Please help us to restore our rights! 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