Let's sell the naming rights
to our roundabouts    

By WILLIAM J. TOBIN    

SINCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT is the time for trick-or-treating, let's offer a dandy Halloween special for any little goblins who come knocking at the door. Let's ask each one of them to join a campaign that will solve all of the funding shortfalls for such worthy projects as the Knik Arm Toll Bridge and a new athletic complex for the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Tobin

IT'S A SLAM DUNK plan. We can pay for all of these I.I.'s (otherwise known as Infrastructure Items) by simply selling the naming rights to each big project that comes along. No longer would a span across Knik Arm be called Don Young Way, after the congressman who parlayed his role as chairman of the House Transportation Committee into a lot of the planning funds for the bridge. Instead, it could become — let's say, just as a possible example — the AT&T Skyway, so named through a $50 million deal with the communication company that would pay to have its corporate name attached to the bridge for 10 years. And the UAA sports facility? Why not the GCI Sports Center? That would be cheap at half the price for a $40 million exclusive 20-year naming-rights contract.

THIS SORT OF financial underpinning is happening all over America. Close to home, there is Safeco Field where the American League Seattle Mariners play their games. Right next door is Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. In San Francisco, the 49ers play their home NFL games in Monster Park, named after a local electronics company, Monster Cable. In San Diego, the National League Padres play in Petco Park. The Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City play their games in. . . 

(cont'd from front page) the Delta Center, complete with luxury boxes for fans cheering for Carlos Boozer, the scoring ace who went to the NBA straight out of high school in Juneau. In Indianapolis, the old RCA Dome is being razed, to be replaced next season by the Lucas Oil Stadium, which will become the home of the Super Bowl champion Colts . . . Colleges and universities everywhere put the names of big donors on science buildings, libraries, dormitories, law schools and any other piece of the campus that will attract dollars by the millions.

NAMING RIGHTS SHOULDN'T be limited to buildings, bridges, sports arenas and the like. Why not streets and highways? The name of Abbott Road could be changed to Credit Union 1 Boulevard, under maybe a $10 million deal with the financial institution that has its headquarters right there in the neighborhood. If not, maybe the nearby Fred Meyer supermarket would leap at the chance to have its name on the road, thus beating to the punch the big Carrs/Safeway store that's just around a curve in the road . . . Meanwhile, the mayor loves little dual roundabouts, and for maybe as little as $5 million naming rights for the two at the Seward Highway and Dowling easily could be sewed up for 20 years — one named after Mark Begich and the other for his wife, Deborah Bonito. Another well-known Alaska couple, former Gov. Frank Murkowski and his wife, Nancy, might be pleased to put up a few million to put their names on the bigger roundabouts at C Street and O'Malley Road. Far fetched? Maybe. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

RETURNING TO THE SPORTS scene, let's turn our attention to the Red Sox Nation and the phenomenon surrounding the amazing fan base of the Boston Red Sox — the American League entry in this year's World Series. Don't know why so many avid baseball followers across the country have embraced the Red Sox, unless it's because of their Alaska connections. Boston pitching ace Curt Shilling was born in Anchorage. The Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, played for the Fairbanks Goldpanners in 1978. The Sox hitting coach, Dave Magadan, played for the Peninsula Oilers in 1982, and bench coach Brad Mills was with the Oilers in 1977 and 1978  . . . Rookie centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, a Navajo and the first Native American to play in the big leagues, starred for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in 2003, batting .338 in 39 games, with one home run. Backup first baseman Eric Hinske played for the Glacier Pilots in 1996 . . . On the other side of the diamond, the Colorado Rockies’ starting pitcher in Game 1 of the Series was left-hander Jeff Francis, who spent two summers in Anchorage, playing one season for the Glacier Pilots and the other with the Anchorage Bucs. He began his professional career in 2002, when he was drafted by the Rockies out of the University of British Columbia. He was named minor league player of the year in 2004, and was called up that August to make his major league mound debut.

FROM FENWAY PARK in Boston and Coors Field in Denver, let's move to the world of academia in Chicagoland. That's where Elaine Maimon, former chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, will be formally installed as the fifth president of Governors State University at University Park, Ill., this coming Saturday. She was the head honcho at UAA from 2004 until this past spring, when she was recruited for the post at Governors State.

BACK TO HALLOWEEN: To keep the little ones off the dark streets and out of the cold Wednesday evening, the Anchorage Symphony orchestra will be presenting a special family concert, "Rat-a-tat-a Halloween," beginning at 7 p.m. in the Atwood Concert Hall of the Performing Arts Center. The orchestra promises toe-tapping music with "a fun story line, special guests and silly characters." The musicians will be in costume, and the price is right: $8 for youngsters and seniors, and $11 to $19 for adults.