Ken,

>declare @sql varchar(128), @myvar varchar(16)

>set @sql = 'declare @myvar varchar(16) select @myvar = somefield from sometable where wherecondition'

>execute (@sql)

Can you not use a stored procedure with parameters (including an output parameter) to access the data you require?

For example

create procedure someprocedure
field varchar(20), table varchar(50), wherecondition varchar(200), myvar varchar(16) OUTPUT
as
select @myvar = @field from @table where @wherecondition

This will return the field required into the myvar variable

Cheers
Steve Lea