(!nocat!)tlnews 
(!page!)8a 
(!pubdate!)1217 
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Bloomsburg Man Gets Jail In Sex Case

Ag Will Not Charge Crossin 
`insufficient Evidence' Citedby John Decker, 
David Iseman And Jean Lacoe 
Times Leader Staff Writers

By DAVID J. RALIS; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Wednesday, December 16, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE TWP.- The only ice to form so far is in frozen puddles lining
the tire tracks of heavy equipment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But in less than a year, the rock-filled bottom of the arena here is
supposed to be a man-made ice rink. Stick-wielding gladiators will call it
home and fight to defend their territory and to delight crowds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The building's circular skeleton already "looks like the Colosseum" in
Rome, said Jack Smedley of Carbondale, a foreman for an electrical contractor
working on the building. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But unlike that crumbling ancient Roman amphitheater, where 50,000 people
cheered bloodsport 2,000 years ago, this modern 8,500-seat arena is on the
rise. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Don't look for the as-yet-unnamed arena from nearby Mundy Street, though.
Only an American flag rises above the rim of a pit surrounding the building.
It is visible, however, from the hilltop parking lots of Wegmans and Lord &amp;
Taylor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The sounds of the huge engines of bulldozers, cranes and other massive
machines fill the empty halls with a perpetual rumble, like hungry lions
growling. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Two men standing in the center of the pit Monday paid the noise no mind.
Armed only with work gloves and white hardhats, they wrestled and weaved thick
metal wire into a large rectangle. Their quarry will be lifted skyward by a
crane. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 High atop the unfinished second-story concourse, another construction
worker stood alone on plywood. He reached into the air for a rope dangling
from the metal box to guide it down and into place horizontally. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Soon, he and other workers will secure a metal mold around the box and pour
concrete. A new reinforced cross-beam will form where it dries, to become the
floor of a luxury box. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There was no applause. Only screams from power saws and the rhythmic
pounding of hammers. Kevin Blaum, chairman of the Luzerne County authority in
charge of building the arena, was the lone spectator to appreciate the tricky
move. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Those guys show no fear," said Blaum, who is also a Democratic state
representative from Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As Blaum walked along the still unenclosed first-floor concourse, carpenter
Bob MacDowell, 50, of Harveys Lake yelled to him, "Where's your seat going to
be?" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Standing at the top of what will eventually be club seats, Blaum pointed
across the arena and slightly askew from the middle where concrete slabs for
the seats will be poured. "Over there," he replied. "In the cheap seats." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Blaum said his reward for years of fighting to make the $47 million project
a reality will be cheering in that seat at the first home game of the American
Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said some naysayers, who never thought the arena would be built, still
are saying they don't believe it will be completed by Aug. 30, 1999. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Construction is about two weeks behind schedule now because of previous
funding problems and a late start, Matt Moran, director of design and
construction for project manager Hammes Co., said Tuesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But crews have been able to make up some time during the last few weeks of
unseasonably warm weather, Moran and Blaum said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Unless it's going to be delayed through December (1999), I don't have a
problem," said Jeff Barrett, president of the Penguins. He toured the facility
last week and said, "It looks like it's going great. Now there's some
substance to it." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Arena Work Gets Constructive Progress On Facility Proceeding Smoothly