Money can buy a public name

Last update: October 8, 2007 - 9:22 PM

Here are some local and national examples of schools that sold corporate naming rights:

• Eden Prairie-based countertop maker Cambria purchased naming rights to Minnetonka's new baseball field, deciding to name it Veterans Field instead.

• Two Sheboygan, Wis., high schools have kitchens named after Kohler Credit Union, bought for $45,000.

• A Walled Lake, Mich., classroom was named for Lowe's, the home improvement store chain.

• Vernon Hills High School in Vernon Hills, Ill., named its football stadium after Rust-Oleum for $100,000 in 2002.

• Although it's not a school facility, a third ice sheet at the Eden Prairie Community Center was funded by selling corporate naming rights to the main hockey rink (to Supervalu), a new gym (to Wells Fargo) and a new fitness center (Emerson Process Management, Rosemount Inc.). The center is next to the high school and is the site for school practice.