Head Of Indy's Sports Facilities, Super Bowl Bid Resigns

INDIANAPOLIS -- The man who heads a panel running the city's convention center and sports facilities and a committee trying to arrange for Indianapolis to host the Super Bowl said he will resign from both positions.

Fred Glass said he would step down as president of the Capital Improvement Board and as the head of the Super Bowl-seeking committee at the end of the year, citing last week's election of a new mayor.

"I came in with (Mayor Bart Peterson), and I'm going to go out with him. I think that's the right thing to do," Glass told reporters Monday.

Mayor-Elect Greg Ballard, who defeated Peterson, will choose Glass' replacement.

Glass' Super Bowl committee came just short of securing the 2011 Super Bowl. The city is expected to bid for the 2012 game, and Glass said Monday he is optimistic that his replacement will succeed.

"I've been meeting with the (NFL) commissioner -- I met with him in New York, (and) I met with him here. I met with Mike McCaskey, the president of the Bears who also chairs the Super Bowl Advisory Committee. We're getting very, very positive feedback. So I think that's left in good shape," Glass said. "I think if the city (pursues) it, we will very, very likely be successful."

The Capital Improvement Board will run the new Lucas Oil Stadium once it is built. The board will face a funding problem because the deal between the city and the state to build the stadium didn't set aside money for maintenance.

Ballard said that problem will be solved.

"I understand operational costs are going to be an issue going forward, but we'll look into that and we'll handle that here as we need to," Ballard said.