Enron's Name Coming Off Ballpark

Wednesday, March 27th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

HOUSTON (AP) _ The Houston Astros expect to welcome the Boston Red Sox for an exhibition game Friday with nary an Enron Corp. reference in sight. It will happen if owner Drayton McLane has anything to say about it.

``We'll be done well before the preseason game on Friday,'' McLane said Tuesday as cranes were used to remove the largest of four outdoor ``Enron Field'' signs.

Those last vestiges of Enron's stamp on the ballpark started coming down Tuesday, just a week before the Astros throw out the first pitch of the 2002 regular season.

The Astros meet Boston in preseason games on Friday and Saturday, and then face the Milwaukee Brewers in the April 2 home opener.

The same company that installed 10-foot blue letters spelling out ``Enron Field'' above the ballpark's right-field entrance returned to haul them down about three decades earlier than planned.

``Whenever we install something, we install it to stay for years and years,'' said Joe Hernandez, general manager of Neon Electric Corp.

On Feb. 27, the Astros agreed to buy out Enron's 30-year, $100 million naming rights deal for $2.1 million. Enron also gave up the company suite, but kept season tickets for 35 box seats.

The buyout allowed the Astros to start negotiating with other companies interested in buying naming rights. McLane said Tuesday that talks were continuing, and he hoped to have a deal by late April.

That deadline would be much quicker than a typical naming rights negotiation, he said. It took the Astros six months to hammer out the original deal with Enron.

Companies that have expressed interest in naming rights include Conoco Inc., Compaq Computer Corp. and Landry's Restaurants, all based in Houston.

The day after agreeing to the buyout, Astros maintenance crews started ridding the venue, temporarily dubbed Astros Field, of everything Enron, removing hundreds of signs bearing the failed energy giant's name.

The ``Enron Field'' sign on the east exterior of the ballpark is the last of four huge outdoor signs to be removed. Each blue letter, weighing up to 300 pounds, must be lowered with a crane after workers free it from welded clips and bolts.

``It's such a long process because they were designed to stay up for 30 years,'' Astros spokesman Todd Fedewa said.

McLane said all Enron signage will be kept in storage at least until after the season starts and a new naming rights deal is done. Then officials will address what to do with the signs and letters.