Anaheim Arena

The City Council has approved the third and final public art work to be installed at the Pond, a moving, musical sculpture with which people can interact. "Musical Gateway," by artists Nancy Mooslin of Los Angeles and Sandra Rowe of Riverside and composer Steven Stucky of New York, will be placed at the east lobby entrance of the sports center this fall. The piece will consist of four brightly painted abstract aluminum sculptures, extending overhead across the arched ceiling at the entrance.

It's worked out well for The Pond, so why not the Convention Center? Some members of the City Council are wondering aloud if it might be more profitable for Anaheim to turn the operations of its Convention Center over to a private contractor, as they did with the arena when it opened two years ago. A majority of the five-member council said last week that they want the idea fully researched and may formally discuss the matter as early as Tuesday.

With more than 50,000 Angels tickets sold for tonight's long-awaited baseball season opener, and the Mighty Ducks battling at the same time for a playoff berth at the sold-out Pond, officials caution fans to go early. "We've had this conflict in the past of getting people in and out of both venues," said John Sevano, a California Angels' baseball team spokesman. "There will be traffic problems on the freeways if everybody tries to make it at the last moment."

No one can accuse producer Tom Collins of skimping on talent for the Tour of World Figure Skating Champions. A mix of veterans and newcomers, the Anaheim-bound tour features such Olympic champions as Brian Boitano, Viktor Petrenko, Oksana Baiul and the dance teams of Marina Klimova-Sergei Ponomarenko and Oksana Gritschuk-Evgeny Platov.

Amid the glitter and sparkle of the Mighty Ducks' first home game, fans who may not know "icing" from "high-sticking" will get an assist from vintage Disney characters. Throughout Duck games, Disney cartoon characters periodically will animate the Pond's Jumbotron to demonstrate the rules and finer points of hockey.

Forum Boxing Inc. is close to signing a deal with The Pond that would move six to eight of its regular Monday night fights to The Pond, according to sources on both sides of the talks. Sources said the first fight of the series would probably be in February and would likely feature a marquee fighter. Attendance at the Forum's Monday night cards has been slightly more than 3,000, which is significantly down from the Forum's crowds of five years ago.

Facing ever-dwindling crowds and a leaner television contract, and with sweet memories of last spring's money-making pay-per-view card at The Pond of Anaheim, Forum Boxing is casting an interested eye south. The deal hasn't been completed but there are strong reasons for Forum Boxing to move some of its regular Monday night shows to The Pond, possibly by early next year, says John Jackson, the company's vice president.

Anaheim and the Anschutz Entertainment Group have tentatively agreed to a five-year deal that would bring some 50 concerts, family shows and sporting events annually to the 7,500-seat Anaheim Arena, city officials said Monday. Greg Smith, Anaheim's convention, sports and entertainment director, said AEG Live, the concert-promoting arm of Anschutz's entertainment empire, would have exclusive entertainment booking rights to the arena.

A yet-to-be named indoor soccer team will play at Anaheim Arena beginning in June, it was announced Sunday. The team will play a 28-game schedule in the 14-team Continental Indoor Soccer League. The Ogden Corporation, which operates the arena, acquired the rights to the existing Los Angeles United franchise and is moving it to Anaheim. The soccer team joins the Mighty Ducks and the Roller Hockey International Bullfrogs as the arena's tenants.

Elvis has left the building, but so have James Taylor, Red Skelton, Roberto Duran, the Anaheim Amigos and the California Oranges. The Anaheim Arena, which opened its doors with a Doors concert in 1967, has played host to musicians, comedians, boxers, circuses and ice shows. The Amigos of the American Basketball Assn. and the Oranges of World Team Tennis played there, as did the Harlem Globetrotters, who could be seen for $3 in 1970.