Philadelphia Eagles Say Lack of Water Fountains an Oversight

The new Philadelphia Eagles stadium lacks drinking fountains in all the places where ordinary fans are allowed to go.

The team said the lack of drinking fountains was an oversight and vowed to fix the problem. The city plumbing code requires drinking fountains in any place of public assembly.

"It's one of those things that you say, `It's obvious; how could they miss that?'" said Scott Jenkins, the team's vice president for stadium operations and facilities. "But in a building this size, as you go along, you're going to find things that you can make better."

The problem was noticed last week when the team invited the public to tour the stadium. Some of the 96,000 visitors asked where the drinking fountains were, and it turned out that they were only in the club lounges. Only buyers of premium tickets may go to those lounges.

As a stopgap measure, the team planned to have free water available at first aid stations where anyone would be allowed to get water there, whether in need of first aid or not.

This was not the first time that a major stadium had this type of oversight. In 1962, Dodger Stadium opened in Los Angeles without any drinking fountains.

Source: AP