03:57 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Melinda Deslatte / Associated Press

BATON ROUGE -- Fast-tracking repairs to the Superdome is inappropriate while thousands of people remain displaced and entire sections of New Orleans lay in ruins after Hurricane Katrina, a New Orleans lawmaker said Tuesday.

Bill Haber / Associated Press

Workers begin the job of repairing the roof of the Superdome. The Dome will undergo temporary repairs to gaping holes in its massive roof. An architectural firm is set to be picked next week and it will come up with a plan for restoring the stadium.

"It sends a bad message when it's an emergency to repair the Superdome for events uncertain when we have people still living in shelters," Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, told staff with Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration at a legislative committee meeting.

The state put out a bid for architectural firms Monday to develop a reconstruction plan for the NFL stadium. Rather than following the typical monthlong selection process, a firm will be chosen this week through emergency selection rules, according to Jerry Jones, director of the Office of Facility Planning and Control, which oversees state building projects.

The domed stadium brings in income for the city and state and provides jobs in a city struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, said Blanco's top budget manager, Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc.

"It's an economic engine for the city and for the region. It employs a lot of folks," LeBlanc said. "The governor feels very strongly that this would be a good thing for the facility and the region."

The Superdome was heavily damaged by winds and rains when Katrina struck Aug. 29, but also by its use as a shelter that housed thousands fleeing the storm and left stranded there for days before being bused to shelters. As many as 30,000 people took refuge there for almost a week.

Holes were ripped in the roof by the harsh wind. Water poured into the building. Elevators, escalators and ceiling tiles were damaged. The entire field where the New Orleans Saints play their football games must be removed. Seats, bathrooms and other interior areas were damaged.

Events scheduled at the Superdome have been canceled or moved elsewhere; some annual events -- the New Orleans Bowl, the Bayou Classic and the Sugar Bowl -- have indicated plans to return when the facility is repaired. And Jones said Louisiana has a contractual obligation to the Saints to provide them with a place to play their games.

"It's a facility we need to get up and running as soon as we can," he said.

Currently, the NFL team is playing part of its home games in San Antonio and the remainder of the games in Baton Rouge at the LSU stadium, but San Antonio is trying to woo the team there permanently.

Jones said repairs to the building are estimated to cost $125 million, and he said the repairs will take 12 months to 16 months -- on top of the time it takes for an architectural firm to do the design work. Jones said he is pushing for the design to be complete within two months.

The speed for the Superdome rebuilding isn't detracting from the Blanco administration's work on housing needs, insurance issues and other recovery areas, LeBlanc told lawmakers.

"The Saints and the Superdome ought to be on the bottom of the list," said Sen. Max Malone, R-Shreveport.

The state's advertisement for the Superdome architect also included repairing the neighboring arena, which normally houses the New Orleans Hornets but housed 800 special medical needs patients before they were evacuated after the hurricane.

The wind and water damage to the arena is estimated to cost about $10 million, Jones said.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)