Baseball head suggests Rupp Arena be changed

(Lexington-AP) -- The president of the Lexington Legends baseball team says he's come up with an idea for solving the city's sports and convention space needs. <br><br>Alan Stein says why not convert

Friday, March 2nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Lexington-AP) -- The president of the Lexington Legends baseball team says he's come up with an idea for solving the city's sports and convention space needs.

Alan Stein says why not convert Rupp Arena into a one (m) million-square-foot convention center, leaving U-K free to build its own new basketball facility. He says a 75-hundred seat arena for the Lexington Thoroughblades hockey team could also be played.

Stein says those changes would give Lexington an appealing new face for sports.

But President Bill Owen of the Lexington Center Corporation that operates Rupp Arena says Lexington doesn't need a (m) million square feet for conventions. Owen says renovations now under way will give Rupp 18-thousand square feet of ballroom space; 22-thousand square feet of meeting rooms; and more than 90-thousand square feet of exposition space. That meets needs projected in a study three years ago.