Sunday, August 20, 2000
Grand opening for Paul Brown Stadium
Fans give thumbs up
By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Paul Brown Stadium, for years a political football and a symbol of riverfront revitalization, fulfilled its true purpose Saturday: It hosted a football game.
With a blast of fireworks and a jet-fighter flyby, the $453.2 million architectural wonder opened for business at 7:35 p.m. That's when Bengal Tremain Mack fielded the stadium's first kickoff.
Three hours later, the Bengals had their first preseason win, a 24-20 victory over the Chicago Bears. Post-game fireworks saluted the win and the completion of the first game in the stadium.
“I think this was a great idea. The city really needed this stadium,” said John Swartzel of Monfort Heights, one of 56,180 fans who streamed into the 65,600-seat facility. “This separates us ... This keeps us a major-league city.”
William Terwort, of Lakeside Park, Ky., bought a ticket at the last minute, seeking to get in on the excitement.
“I'm here for civic pride,” he said. “It's important to be part of this historical event in the city of Cincinnati.”
It appeared the stadium's tenants would show their true colors — the Bengals were the NFL's losingest team in the 1990s — when the Bears scored on their first two possessions of the game.
But the Bengals stormed back with 21 unanswered points. The Bengals' first touchdown in the new stadium came on a 14-yard run by rookie Peter Warrick with two seconds left in the first quarter. He followed the touchdown with the first “Lambeau Leap” at the stadium, soaring up an end-zone wall to share hugs and handslaps with fans.
The opening came 844 days after officials turned the first shovel of dirt on April 28, 1998, for a stadium that followed prolonged negotiations between Hamilton County and city officials and Bengals President Mike Brown.
Since then, the budget ballooned $46 million to its current price tag, leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of many Hamilton County residents. County voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase in March 1996 to pay for the Bengals stadium and a new Reds ballpark.
But beginning with Wednesday's overflowing open house and continuing to Saturday's preseason game, fans turned out to see what their money had bought.
A longtime fan, Larry Marcagi, 69, of Anderson Township, said he's been coming to Bengals games since they played at Nippert Stadium on the University of Cincinnati campus.
“It's going to be a big asset to Cincinnati,” he said. “It's going to make our riverfront beautiful.”
Matt Current and family drove down from Middletown after his boss gave him tickets for the opener. Saturday's experience had him thinking he might buy some tickets for a regular-season game.
“Both my kids were entertained the whole time, and that's saying something,” said Mr. Current, 30, who had his 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son in tow on the way out of the stadium. “If the Bengals have a good year, it would be pretty neat to come back.”
Fans marveled at the unimpeded sight lines — 70 percent of the seats are on the sidelines — and the crystal-clear sound and picture of the scoreboard.
“It's pretty cool. You get to see the instant replay every so often,” Devon Spivey, 20, of Newark, Ohio, said of the scoreboard. “It's a lot better than Cinergy,” the Bengals' old home.
Dan Meis, the stadium's lead architect, was happy with fans' reactions.
“I'm proud to have come to a conservative city and for them to do something futuristic,” he said. “I want this to be the place where you bring people and say, "You have to see our new stadium.'”
But there were still some bugs to work out.
“A half-billion dollars and they still run out of paper,” said Jeff Smith, 23, of Monroe, about the lack of paper towels in a concourse-level restroom.
Also, non-working escalators forced some people to climb several flights of stairs.
Fans gave high marks to the stadium's high ratio of toilets — one fixture for every 50 fans, the NFL's highest. But not every bathroom (28 men, 29 women) had signs above the door.
“I just didn't know where to go,” said Jennifer Norrish, 32, of Anderson Township.
Other fans were left to root through their wallets or search for automated teller machines instead of seats because the Bengals weren't taking credit cards at the ticket booth.
Coincidentally, Visa is an official sponsor of the NFL, and a credit card company was signing people up inside the stadium.
“We would have tried for $40 or $50 seats. On the 50-yard line. But I only had so much cash in my pocket,” said Grover Nix, of Cincinnati. “I got the $35 ones in the end zone.”
Bengals officials at the Ticket North office, where video signs flashed “cash only” messages, said the stadium wasn't set up for credit cards and that only pre-game tickets could be purchased with plastic.
“The ticket booth only opened two days ago. This will be remedied as soon as possible,” said stadium construction spokeswoman Brooke Hill.
Other aspects of the stadium — most notably the much-hyped food service — appeared to run smoothly for a maiden voyage.
“Things have gone surprisingly and incredibly well,” said Gunnar Olsen, an executive chef for ARAMARK, the stadium's food service firm.
Some found fun away from the game action in a children's play area. Lora Sjolin, of White Oak, took her son Patrick, 3, there.
“This is nice. It's a good place to come if they get a little antsy,” she said.
Outside the stadium, traffic was slow but orderly, helped along by the new Fort Washington Way — another key in the redevelopment of downtown.
Officials had anticipated as many as 130,000 people and 35,000 cars downtown Saturday. It was the first time the Bengals and Reds played on the same day since the two teams began sharing Riverfront Stadium in 1970. Also, as many as 60,000 were expected at the Black Family Reunion at Sawyer Point and a couple thousand more children and their families were in town for the Kids Expo at Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.
But the reconfigured Fort Washington Way and new Second and Third streets — which opened just this week — seemed to handle the test.
“Things are going really smooth,” said Cincinnati Police District One commander Capt. Vince Demasi, who oversaw traffic control for all of downtown. “We couldn't ask for anything better. It's slow here and there, but everyone is really well-behaved.”
The main complaint wasn't about traffic, or even about the amount of parking. It was finding the parking, with people confusing detour signs with other signs directing game-day traffic.
Another recent controversy over whether street vendors could sell their wares close to the stadium appeared to be forgotten.
Ticket scalpers and merchandise vendors said they were respecting the city's off-limit zones and the police were respecting them.
But some vendors said they fear what could happen in two weeks when city officials again review boundaries.
“It would be a shame to cut out the little man,” said ticket seller John Stevenson. “Why should Mike Brown be the only one to reap the benefits. This stadium cost us what, $450 million?”
Tailgaters also were out in force, thanks to a near ocean of parking lots near the stadium.
The smell of barbecued chicken, hamburgers and brats wafted across the concourse as fans streamed into the stadium.
Football brought Art Gannon and Kathy Wolfe together 15 years ago, and they've been eating hamburgers in parking lots together before Bengals games ever since.
“He was sitting right behind us in the top row of Riverfront Stadium 15 years ago. They were using very bad language,” Ms. Wolfe said. “We straightened that out, then we started tailgating with them.”
Steve Iiams, 36, of Dayton, customized his gas grill so a steel rail connects the grill to the trailer hitch on his truck, standing the grill upright.
A similar attachment allows a table and flag to be attached to his neighbor's truck.
“The patent is pending,” Mr. Iiams said with a smile.
Robert Anglen, Kristina Goetz and Dan Klepal contributed to this report.
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Grand opening for Paul Brown Stadium