It's not enough to maintain the "first-tier" stadium status for the Edward Jones Dome specified in the lease agreement between the Rams and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, but it helps.
A $30 million improvement project, including state-of-the-art scoreboards and video boards in both end zones, has begun at the Dome.
The project includes renovations to the Rams Club in the north end zone and creation of a Premium Club in the south end zone. As part of the scoreboard renovations, fans in the Rams Club and Premium Club will be able to view the field from those areas, and it will allow some daylight in the bowl area.
In another effort to brighten the interior of the Dome, most of the dark blue paint in the dome will be replaced with a lighter color.
Also, four suites will be combined to create 72 "super suite" seats that can purchased individually. All of the renovations are scheduled to be completed in time for the start of the Rams' 2009 season.
"The whole purpose of this was to improve the fans' enjoyment, and we think this will accomplish that," said Bob Wallace, Rams executive vice president-general counsel. "The video boards are going to be of the highest quality. And a public viewing area, which is something we haven't had, will be in the north end zone."
As part of the lease terms set with the commission when the Rams moved here from Los Angeles, the Dome has to still rank among the top 25 percent of NFL stadiums in terms of quality by 2015, the stadium's 20th anniversary.
THREE MORE ABOARD
The Rams announced the hiring of three more assistant coaches Monday, apparently completing the staff of head coach Steve Spagnuolo.
Clayton Lopez was hired as a defensive assistant, Andy Sugarman was hired as a quality control coach-offense, and Derius Swinton will handle quality control coach-special teams.
It's believed that Lopez will coach cornerbacks, a position that ex-Dallas defensive coordinator Brian Stewart interviewed for last week. Lopez, 37, most recently worked as assistant secondary coach for Detroit last season. He worked previously for the Seattle Seahawks (1999-2003) and Oakland Raiders (2004-05) before joining the Lions in 2006.
Sugarman, 36, most recently worked as an offensive assistant for Atlanta in 2007. Although he was out of Football last year, Sugarman has previous NFL experience with San Francisco (1998-2002) and Detroit (2003-2005).
Swinton was a graduate assistant the past two seasons at the University of Tennessee.
