[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

Re: (rshsdepot) Name rights for Connecticut transit stations may be up for sale

Tidy Bowl-Stamford?
Drano-Greenwich?
Chuckie Cheese-Norwich?
Trojan-Hartford?


- -----Original Message-----
>From: I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com
>Sent: Mar 9, 2007 10:33 AM
>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Name rights for Connecticut transit stations may be up for sale   
>
>From today's New Haven Register.
> 
>Bernie Wagenblast
> 
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
>Name rights for transit stations may be up for sale  
>Gregory B.  Hladky , Capitol Bureau Chief  
> 
>HARTFORD — Imagine coming into Connecticut by rail a few years from now and  
>getting off at the new Toyota-West Haven Station, or passing the Foxwoods  
>Casino-North Branford platform on your way to Springfield. 
>
>Those names are fictional, but state officials say selling or leasing  naming 
>rights to transit facilities could produce millions of dollars a year for  
>new mass transportation projects and they are asking for legislative permission  
>to look into such deals.
> 
>But some lawmakers are more than a little doubtful about naming public bus  
>or train stations for corporations in return for cash.
> 
>"My first impression is that we’re whoring the state out," said state Rep.  
>Peter Panaroni, D-Branford, who is a member of the legislature’s Transportation 
> Committee. "I’m not opposed yet … but people in Connecticut should have a 
>chance  to comment on whether we want to have a train station named for Nextel 
>or  something."
> 
>State Rep. Paul Davis, D-Orange, is both curious about the idea and  wary.
> 
>"I like the idea of that the Department of Transportation is looking for  
>ways beyond public financing for everything," Davis said Thursday. But Davis,  
>who is also on the transportation panel, added he is "not entirely certain about 
> using public facilities for advertising."
> 
>"It’s a somewhat novel approach, but it’s better than some of the stuff  
>they (DOT) give us," said the co-chairman of the Transportation Committee, state  
>Sen. Donald J. DeFronzo, D-New Britain.
> 
>DeFronzo said the bill to authorize the DOT to set up procedures for  leasing 
>or selling transit facility naming rights is coming up for a public  hearing 
>at the Legislative Office Building beginning at 10 a.m. Monday. DeFronzo  said 
>he’d be interested to find out what the public thinks of the concept.
> 
>Cities from New York to San Diego have been getting into lucrative  corporate 
>sponsorship deals for years, Connecticut transportation officials  point out.
> 
>In 2003, Las Vegas sold naming rights to its municipal convention center  
>rail station and to one of its light rail trains to Nextel Communications Inc.  
>for $50 million over 12 years.
> 
>Cities and towns in the Midwest have been selling naming rights to local  
>baseball and football fields, following the trend set by professional football,  
>baseball and basketball franchises selling names of their arenas.
> 
>One Texas community of 125 people changed its name in 2005 from Clark to  
>"DISH" in order to get free satellite TV service for its residents.
> 
>New Jersey and other states also are investigating the possibility of  
>generating revenue through similar schemes.
> 
>"We just saw this as an opportunity to raise funds for upcoming mass  transit 
>projects," said Charles S. Barone, DOT bureau chief for policy and  planning.
> 
>"We’re not really certain how it would work out for Connecticut," said  
>Barone. "Obviously, we’re not Las Vegas."
> 
>Barone said his agency plans to look first to the possibility of selling  
>naming rights to some of the bus stations being planned for the proposed New  
>Britain-Hartford "Busway" corridor. The cost of that project alone is estimated  
>at $235 million.
> 
>The DOT’s transit operation has for years sold advertising both inside and  
>outside its state-owned buses.
> 
>Michael Sanders, the agency’s transit administrator, said at one time,  
>Connecticut was reaping more than $1 million a year from selling ad space on its  
>buses. But Sanders said the advertising market has weakened recently and state  
>bus ad revenues are down below $700,000 annually.
> 
>Barone said the DOT plans to look initially to the potential for selling or  
>leasing naming rights to new facilities. Those could include new rail stations 
> planned for the proposed New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter line or for 
> planned New Haven Line stations in West Haven and Orange.
> 
>But he doubts that commuters will be seeing corporate logos replacing the  
>Union Station signs in New Haven any time soon.
> 
>"The established stations would be the most difficult," said Barone, citing  
>the likelihood of strong local attachments to the "long-standing community 
>names  for them."
> 
>Barone said he isn’t sure how much money the sale or lease of bus and train  
>station naming rights could produce. "It really depends on the extent of any  
>(naming rights) program," he said. "Is there a market for it? We won’t know  
>until we try."
> 
>The idea of selling naming rights to public facilities has drawn strong  
>criticism from some experts and activists, who oppose commercialization of  
>government. Several years ago, such opposition blocked a proposal to sell naming  
>rights of several Boston subway stations.
> 
>DeFronzo said he is concerned selling corporations the naming rights to  
>public facilities could create future problems. "There are going to be times  when 
>you want to name a facility after a war hero or a great public figure," he  
>said.
> 
>The top Republican on the transportation panel, state Sen. John McKinney of  
>Fairfield, applauds the DOT "for thinking outside the box" but said there 
>should  be tight restrictions on final authority for naming facilities.
> 
>"I don’t know that I’d be comfortable giving any department full,  
>unfettered authority to out and sell the naming rights to a station," McKinney  said. 
>"What if an adult video store bought the rights to put its name on a train  
>station? That’s unlikely perhaps, but it’s the kind of thing we need to  
>consider."
> 
>
>--
>--
>Gregory  B. Hladky can be contacted at _ghladky_@_nhregister.com_ 
>(mailto:ghladky_@_nhregister.com)  or (860)  524-0719.  
>
>
><BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free 
>email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at 
>http://www.aol.com.
>
>=================================
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
>To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

------------------------------