Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano has sought the support of mayors in Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale and Queen Creek on two sites in the East Valley that have been proposed for the 73,000-seat stadium: one is in Tempe and the other one is along the border between Tempe and Mesa. Regardless of which site night be selected, the entire East Valley would benefit, he says.

"This is not so much for finances as the symbolism of this being a regional project," he says.

A city could contribute to the millions that it is expected to take to develop the infrastructure for the stadium, Giuliano says. "If a city want to contribute over the long term, then they can share in the revenues," he adds.

It's estimated that the site along the border between Tempe and Mesa, at the southeast corner of the Loop 101 and Loop 202, would require an investment of $78 million to prepare for the stadium, a cost that would be borne by the municipalities. That's a sizeable decrease from the initial estimate of $122 million made late last year.

The cost was brought down by arranging land trades rather than outright purchases for the parcels that would make up the stadium grounds, say Mesa officials.

Those communities in contention include: Tempe, with a site near the Tempe Town Lake southeast of Washington Street and Priest Drive; Tempe/Mesa, with a site at the southeast corner of the Loop 101 and Loop 202 that's on the border between the two suburbs; downtown Phoenix, with two possible sites near Bank One Ballpark; Avondale, with a site near Thomas Road and 99th Avenue; the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, with a site along the Beeline Highway in the East Valley.

The communities in competition for the stadium have until 5 p.m. this Friday to submit their detailed plans, which include financial details on how they will pay for the millions in infrastructure costs that will accompany development of the stadium. Each community will also be given an opportunity to make a 20-minute presentation to the Tourism and Sports Authority, which will make the final determination on placement of the stadium, the following day.

The Authority may pare the list of possible sites down to two by mid-January and then choose a final site by mid-February, but could also choose an outright winner this month to sped the process, the chairman of the Authority has said.

The Authority has aggressively scheduled the groundbreaking on the domed stadium for March, in hopes of having the facility ready for the start of the 2003 NFL season.

Whichever community gets the stadium is sure to reap millions of dollars more in sales tax revenues and will see a mushroom of ancillary development in the area around the stadium.