M’S Eye Parking Dilemma

The new retractable-roof stadium planned for the Seattle Mariners will seat 45,000, but it will only have 3,825 parking spots. As a result, planners are looking for ways to deal with transportation problems when the ballpark opens in 2-1/2 years.

The Public Facilities District must have some plans for dealing with traffic trouble when it applies next month for the permits to begin construction.

The stadium will have its own 1,525-space parking garage plus there are 2,300 spaces that already surround the nearby Kingdome.

To make up the gap, the district will propose and help pay for increased bus service, car-pool incentives, charter-bus packages and shuttles to downtown.

It’s finally over for opponents of a new Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

The Michigan Supreme Court let stand two lower court rulings rejecting the Tiger Stadium Fan Club’s lawsuit. The group, which supports preserving and renovating the current 84-year-old stadium, had sued to block the new ballpark.

N.L. president Len Coleman met with Astros owner Drayton McLane and said the Astros need a new ballpark to survive.

McLane said last week that the offer made by Bill Collins last year to buy the team for $160 million and move it to Northern Virginia was better than Houston’s current offer for a $250 million retractable-roof stadium. McLane has said he can provide about $50 million, not the $100 million County Judge Robert Eckels has insisted. xxxx