HOFHEINZ FAMILY REACHES AGREEMENT U OF H ARENA

  

The family of former Houston Astros owner Roy Hofheinz and the University of Houston have settled a legal dispute over plans to remove Hofheinz's name from the school's basketball arena.

Hofheinz's family had insisted $1.5 million paid to the university in 1969 ensured retaining the name Hofheinz Pavilion.

School officials asked a Harris County probate court in April to allow the university to negotiate a naming-rights deal as part of a $60 million renovation set to begin next year.

Among the provisions in an agreement announced Tuesday, the school will ask the city to rename a street bordering the arena for Hofheinz and build a plaza for a bronze statue of the former Houston mayor and Harris County judge.

Hofheinz, the driving force behind construction of the Astrodome, died in 1982.