HOUSTON -- Within 24 hours of announcing their ballpark will no longer be named for Enron Corp., the Houston Astros on Thursday started peeling away signs displaying the company name or tilted "E" logo.

Maintenance crews boarded scissor lifts and roamed newly dubbed Astros Field, taking down heavy copper diamond-shaped signs from arched entrances.

"We're just wandering around, seeing what we need to take down," crew member Larry Bostick said. A crumpled, diamond-shaped "Enron Field" sticker that used to be on a sign designating seating sections was stuck to his shoe.

The team agreed Wednesday to pay Enron $2.1 million to get out of the company's $100 million, 30-year naming rights deal.

Astros spokesman Jimmy Stanton said the team will not erect any "Astros Field" signs because owner Drayton McLane hopes to strike a naming rights deal with another company within two months.

Now the Astros face ridding their two-year-old ballpark of Enron's name, which has come to symbolize corporate misconduct after the company imploded last year amid allegations of accounting abuses.

Hundreds of signs throughout the 42,000-seat ballpark display the name, from seating charts next to ticket windows to the four clock faces in a tower at the home plate entrance.

Thursday's effort started small, with signs workers could remove with socket wrenches and putty knives.

Stanton said officials didn't yet know they will bring in cranes to take down the huge blue letters that say "Enron Field" above the right field entrance and above the scoreboard.

"That will take some planning, to remove something that permanent," he said.

Enron's name was on everything from game day staff uniforms to cups, napkins, plates and tickets for the 2002 season sold in early February.

Team officials said napkins that say "Enron Field" likely won't accompany cocktails this season, but final decisions on switching out those small items have yet to be made.

McLane said whatever remains visible when the Astros face the Boston Red Sox in two exhibition games March 29-30 will be covered with tarps. But officials said pressure is on to remove as many "Enron Field" displays as possible.

The Astros will pick up the tab to remove the Enron logo from the ballpark.

But when it comes to replacing 110 street signs marking Enron Field District, Houstonians will foot the bill, according to News2Houston.

"The cost is approximately $100 per sign that's going to be picked up by the Public Works Department, (which means) the taxpayer," said Gary Norman with the City of Houston's Public Works Department. "They're our street signs."

The name change also means a menu change for the two Ruggles Restaurants at Enron Field. Menus will have to be reprinted, as well as napkins, aprons and matches.

"It's going to be costly -- $9,000 to $20,000," said Michael Shine, the President of Ruggles Management, L.L.C.

Since Shine doesn't want to pay twice for printing costs, he hopes the Astros decide quickly on a new name.

Companies that have expressed interest in naming rights for the ballpark include Conoco Inc., Compaq Computer Corp. and Landry's restaurants. Dynegy Inc., once Enron's prospective merger partner, has declined interest.

Experts said McLane's hope of getting a deal done in two months may be too optimistic, particularly in terms of getting new signs up.

"This year's probably a bust in terms of finding a naming partner. The season is just too close," said Steve Camp, a Dallas lawyer who helped negotiate the naming rights deal for the Arizona Diamondbacks' 4-year-old Bank One Ballpark.

Camp said the ballpark can just be called Astros Field for a season, giving the team and the new naming rights partner a chance to market the new moniker.

"If I were a serious buyer, I'd want to give it some time and let some of the ill feelings about Enron dissipate before I put my name there," he said.

Dean Bonham of the Denver-based Bonham Group, a firm that negotiates naming-rights deals for venues and businesses, said he hasn't been involved in any agreements that took less than six months to reach.

"It may not be in anyone's interest to cram those negotiations into a 60-day window," Bonham said.

Astros fan Rob Hendrickson said he doesn't care what the park is called, just as long as he can catch some good games.

"That's just a money thing," he said. "I just want to watch baseball."