Rome, Gwinnett making progress on new sports stadiums

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Posted 6:25PM on Sunday, July 7, 2002

ROME - Rome officials have released sketches of a new ball park for the Class A Braves, and the look is meant to recall to the northwest Georgia city's past. Sketches of the park by a Toronto architecture firm resemble old mill buildings. The style is a nod to textile mill baseball leagues that flourished in northwest Georgia a century ago. The Braves are moving to Rome from Macon next season, after years of lackluster attendance in an aging ballpark there. Voters approved a $15 million local option sales to build the park. Nothing had yet been decided about the actual look of the park except the color of the seats. ``The only thing that is a given, the Braves requested navy blue seats,'' said Garry Fricks, Floyd County Commission chairman. ``Fortunately, it wasn't lime green or anything like that.'' The seats will match those at Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves. The outside will almost definitely be brick, modeled after the 6,000-seat home of the Class A Lexington (Ky.) Legends. ``A lot of the old mill buildings were constructed from brick and some of the lines and designs were taken from that,'' Fricks said. ``There is some combination of metal beam railings and brick.'' County Manager Kevin Poe said preparations are ``getting down to the nitty-gritty, selecting colors.'' Another Georgia county is finishing a new sports facility for its first minor league team. A $90 million arena for a new minor league hockey team in Gwinnett County will be ready next spring. The Gwinnett team has not yet picked a mascot but will have a 13,000 seat arena about half the capacity of Phillips Arena in Atlanta. Gwinnett officials are considering selling naming rights for the arena but say the sponsor hasn't been decided. ``The market for naming rights is on the comeback, especially as the economy continues to improve,'' said arena general manager Preston Williams.