COLUMN: A domed stadium to keep fans for the duration

Josh Callahan, Commentary What a great game. The Quakers were all over Princeton. It was a total blowout! Everyone in the stands was having a blast, especially the ones who were blasted. Except for that field goal kicker, Princeton really sucked. The Tigers' field goal guy had a kick blocked? When was that? Oh, the fourth quarter. Yeah, well, it was really cold. And it started to rain, and the wind was blowing. And everyone else was leaving. Hey, it's tradition. You know, Philadelphia is way too cold to not have a domed stadium. That's what Penn really needs. Screw Franklin Field. Princeton knocked down their rickety old horseshoe of a stadium. Palmer something or other it was called. It was over 80 years old, and they didn't have a problem bringing in the wrecking ball. Penn should do the same thing. If there were a dome, a lot more students would show up for football games. There's really no reason for students to have to suffer for three whole hours out in the cold just to watch an Ivy League football game. This is Penn, not Penn State. Even if the team is good, let's face it, once you're out of toast, the party is over. A dome is much more versatile than Franklin Field. It could serve as an indoor track facility so that our championship track teams don't have to shovel snow off the current track in order to practice. A removable indoor banked track would help the team train better and take away the stigma of being the only respectable team in the country without a home track. A QuakerDome could play host to the Women's Final Four when Penn hosts the tournament in 2000. Why should CoreStates Center benefit from the tens of thousands of visitors? Doesn't it make sense to bring all those fans to University City to enjoy the newly finished Sansom Common? The participants can be housed in the 256 rooms at the Inn at Penn. It would give non-residents a rare opportunity to cross the Schuylkill. And, of course, most importantly, the fans won't be driven from their football seats by the bitter November winds. Some of the alums paid $20 to see that game, and they were robbed of what turned out to be a dramatic finish because it got too cold. This school takes $30,000 a year from each student, and in return all he or she gets is a lousy three quarters of football and a cold metal bench. That is unacceptable. The money needed to finance such a fantastic project shouldn't even be a concern. The name Franklin Field should be kept, but the turf and the roof can have different names. "Franklin Field at the PECOEnergyDome" sounds just fine -- at least it would in exchange for a few million dollars. Penn already has most of the money anyway. This Trammell Crow thing is a savior. Millions a year in maintenance savings can certainly pay for the restrooms and food service areas. Plus it gives the fine folks at Trammell Crow another building to manage. Everyone wins. Somewhere in that 21st Century Project report, there must have been a part about the need for a domed stadium. Just ask the folks down at the AstroDome. They'll tell you it's the wave of the future. Mayor Ed Rendell and the entire city would love Penn. The Dallas Cowboys were too incompetent to close their dome, but Philadelphia can show it knows how to do the job right. A good sales pitch along those lines would send Ben Franklins rolling out from City Hall by the truckload. Why Franklin Field is still standing is a mystery. The QuakerDome is the solution. An indoor track, an attraction for visitors, a site to host the Women's Final Four and a football facility rivaling Veterans Stadium for aesthetic beauty. No more football games out in the cold. Students will stay safe from the winds by staying in their seats. Teams will cringe in terror from the deafening crowd noise created by echoes in the rafters. Now is the time! Action must be taken before other Ivy League institutions take the initiative. Penn is a school of leaders. Voices must be heard! Because too many people missed a damned good football game.