Stadium Talks Produce
No Compromise Plans
THI HOUSTON POS1
SATURDAY, MAlCH 26, 1'60 ___;..,
state legislature," he said. "It
should give Harris O>unty authority
to place a mortgage on
the selected land in favor of the
bond buyers."
n.....1..:1 ha ~ Pointing out that the stadium
nvu ems that ve ept Har- needs for an adequate annual has no guarantee at th1s tim
ria County's proposed $20 Mil- stock show and rodeo. of revenues from sports events~
lion sports stadium apd expo- Mars~all warned that the Fat Kirkland said the stadium was
sition center in confusion were Stock Show would rent the fa- a "chicken and egg <leal" on
officially aired Friday. cilities only about 10 days a which the park board decided a
Ne decision on site, s17.e or year, and that other occupants site had to come first.
character of the project came wou~ have to be found for the MAYOR CUTRER said an exout
of a two-hour conference of remamder of the year, position site near downtown
county, city, park board, Fat KIRKLAND SAID it was the Houston would follow the trend
Stock Show and civic group rep- park board's belief that the in other major cfties, and would
resentatives, South Main site was the onl stren_gthen city business while
WILLIAM A. KIRKLAND . . . Y offering a better chance of earn-
. -~ • logical one for a combination ing adequate revenues.
chairman of 1:he. County ~ of sports and exposition facility · The meeting was called by
Park Comnuss1oners, said his that would have adequate park- County Judge Bill Elliott at the
group has pinned its hopes on a ing, drainage, accessibility and request of the county commis-cre
tract near South Main the all-important chance to gain sioners, who last week backed a
Street and Old Spanish Trail enough revenues to pay off motion of Commissioner W, Kyle
, • . ' bonds needed for construction. Chapman for an air-clearing
mayor Lewis Cutrer stuck to "We still need one more sim- conference on various stadium
hriius mc oanntden etixopno stihtiaotn afanc ialiutdieitso-,. P1 e pi· ece Of help from the 196--1-.:p::.r..o...;p;;.o_s als_• _ _______ .
without a sports stadium -
should be on a 33-acre site
on the north bank of Buffalo
Bayou.
John Andrew, chairman of the
mayor's urban renewal committee,
said the tract mentioned by
Cutrer was a "terrible bottleneck,"
and proposed a combination
slum-clearance and expo..
sition-development plan on 70
acres west of the Civic Center.
BOY HOHL, representing a
group of North Side sports enthusiasts,
claimed the stadium
should be on the north edge of
Houston because most of its patrons
would come from a 150-
mile radius of that point.
Douglas Marshall, representing
the Fat Stock Show board,
said that organization is willing
to give its land to an "entity"
that will build the facilities it
