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This week's podcast:
Penguins aren't left out in the cold
NEW!
Board
recommends new Evansville arena
NEW!
Independence
puts hold on Global contract pending negotiations
NEW!
New NKU
arena to open Saturday
NEW!
Warriors
offer to put millions into new Moose Jaw arena
NEW!
Commission
approves new Penguins arena design
It's
official: Tucson tortoise-shell design dead
Newspaper:
UAA arena plan sound
Sonics:
Seattle officials sabotaged new arena
MacInnes
receiving much-needed facelift
Dave Wright: In Waterloo,
bells are ringing and fans are happy at the arena
Arena Visit: Wells Fargo
Arena / Iowa Events Center |
The
cost of a new arena at the University of Oregon
went up by about $2 million. While it probably
won't be the last time we report the price tag has
gone up, this time around the increased costs are
for a good reason. University officials decided to
with taxable bonds, rather than nontaxable bonds,
to finance the arena. This puts the yearly price
tag for debt relief at $17.2 million. But by using
taxable bonds the University has more flexibility
in using Phil Knight's $100-million bequest
-- and will help UO avoid any issues with the IRS.
University officials are praising themselves for
making such a wise decision.
Each
week senior editor Dave Wright brings you news
from the arena world on the Arena Digest podcast.
This week's topics: The Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
aren't left out in the cold with a new arena
design; back to the drawing board for Tucson;
Bruce Ratner finally admits what we all know about
his Atlantic Yards project; and Michigan Tech's
arena is getting a much-needed facelift.
Nobody
is saying this is a deal breaker, but it cannot be
considered good news. Plans for a hockey arena in
Independence are on hold while the city and the
developer clarify some important contract details.
The
$68 million Bank of Kentucky Center at Northern
Kentucky University is set to open tomorrow with
spring graduation ceremonies. It's not totally
done -- the site has a temporary certificate of
occupancy and leaders don't expect it to be fully
open until September -- but crews are working hard
to bring it up to passable status for the
ceremonies.
The
Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) are stepping up to help
themselves get a new home. The team owners pledged
$2.5 million to help build a proposed multiplex
that would include a new arena. The pledge was
made under the condition the Moose Jaw City
Council gives the go-ahead for the project, which
could cost from $36-60 million. The league told
the team it needed a new building by the start of
the 2009-10 season or it risked losing the
franchise. The team's current home, the Civic
Centre, was built in 1959 and hold just 2,700
people. The WHL has said the arena is no longer up
to league standards. If the Moose jaw City Council
gave the approval, it is expected the WHL would
cut the Warriors some slack. Moose Jaw has been a
member of the WHL since 1984.
The
Pittsburgh City Planning Commission approved new
plans for the downtown arena for the Pittsburgh
Penguins (NHL). Commission officials had objected
to the original design, saying the exterior was
too cold and uninviting, but the Penguins and HOK
Sport architect Wayne London came back with a
revised design featuring a more inviting, brightly
lit exterior. The new arena is set to open in the
2010-2011 season.
Not
quite sure whether this is an actual legal
argument: in court filings the owners of the
Seattle SuperSonics (NBA) say Seattle city
officials -- including a deputy mayor and other
city council members -- worked against the team's
proposal for a new Renton arena by telling state
legislators the arena wasn't supported by the city
of Seattle. Well, duh: last time we checked a map
Renton and Seattle were not the same, and it's
easy to see why Seattle officials would want to
work to keep the team in, say, Seattle.
Really, the big issue right now is whether there
will be an expedited trial: the city says it needs
time to prepare for new issues raised by the
Sonics ownership, and the Oklahoma-based owners
say they need to move as soon as possible in order
to avoid $20 million in losses annually. But we
all know the wheels of justice moves a little
slowly sometimes.
Of
all the cities that are still playing hockey this
April, few can top the intensity of those who
showed up for Waterloo’s 4-1 win in Game 1 over
the Chicago Steel in the USHL playoffs. Granted,
the attendance number at Young Arena of 2,003 may
not impress you when compared to the final figures
for, say, Detroit or Montreal but take my word for
it: these folks care passionately about their
team. In fact, Iowa – not normally considered a
hot bed for the sport – has truly taken to the ice
game. Young Arena is a smallish building (there
are 2,929 seats with room for about 600 more to
stand) with low-hanging ceilings. As a result, it
doesn’t take a lot to make the place noisy.
Although fan output alone could probably turn the
trick, the Black Hawks couldn’t resist following
the lead of many other teams. In addition to
piping in loud music, they sold small cowbells as
well. The resulting mayhem was so loud that a
Chicago assistant coach sitting in the small press
box wore ear plugs all night as he made notes.