Arena Renderings (Rio Rancho, Hope: city hall, condominiums, luxury)

[Rob Martinez]

Originally Posted by bradly

They just need to completely tear down that entre church, where the arena is going to be.. i really dont see why they would leave it there? and with the empty space they can make the arena larger, i think thats why this crap proposed arena is only going to be 11,000..

The plan says 12,500 seats. It will be that or it will be nothing. Do you really believe they will turn around and build an 18.000 seat arena?

[bradly]

Originally Posted by Rob Martinez

The plan says 12,500 seats. It will be that or it will be nothing. Do you really believe they will turn around and build an 18.000 seat arena?

Well we have to throw out 3 city councilors and.. the mayor will go along with it, i know that.. it can be done..

[Rob Martinez]

Originally Posted by bradly

Well we have to throw out 3 city councilors and.. the mayor will go along with it, i know that.. it can be done..

That's not gonna result in a BIGGER arena being built.

But hey, if you got the patience to wait about twenty more years, maybe then a bigger building will be constructed. Maybe.

[Rob Martinez]

The 12,500 seat capacity is not because of city councilors, it is based on a study made that actually has some big names in the arena construction and managing business.

Without a major sports team to anchor an arena, 12,500 seats makes sense.

18,000 seats is if you have a major college team draw, or pro sports team. This arena will have neither.

So, it looks like 12,500 is the magic number. I think that is the same for the Tucson arena.

Again, I don't know why Tulsa can and we can't.

Maybe if we fill in that whole in the ground called the Pit and stop living some dream about how "great" it is, we could have a bigger arena for the basketball teams and do it up.

But as long as we keep imagining the Pit is some sacred sports cathedral that can't be demolished, we are screwed.

In fact, the Lobos may be a hinderence to us EVER getting an NBA team, since it could be argued we will always just support the Lobos and never be able to support a pro team.

The Boston Garden, a more storied arena than the Pit will ever be, was destroyed to make room for a new arena.

Same with Chicago Stadium.

Just some food for thought.

[Rob Martinez]

Just saw the news on KOB, and the leading story was about the proposed arena. Not good news (or great news if you hate the idea like some of you).

Most city councilors are against it, saying the economy is too bad right now. A tax increase to fund the arena was scoffed at, and the vote for the tax increase would not be until next year.

Brad Winter said this thing, IF it takes off, won't even break ground until 2010 or after.

If it goes to the voters, you can exercise your disdain for this project by voting against the tax increase.

But don't kid yourself. As I predicted, if we can't get a 12,500 seat arena built, there is NO WAY a bigger arena is on the horizon for at least twenty years or so.

[urbanabq]

Amen, Rob! That's exactly it. There just isn't enough $ to go around in this town, currently. The introduction of boxes to the Pit is to squeeze more funds from the high rollers.

What we're going to get is two mediocre arenas because we won't let the legend of the Pit die.

Oh, and Tulsa, Omaha, Des Moines, etc. are building bigger because they are thinking bigger than us, unfortunately.

[bradly]

Originally Posted by Rob Martinez

That's not gonna result in a BIGGER arena being built.

But hey, if you got the patience to wait about twenty more years, maybe then a bigger building will be constructed. Maybe.

Yes it would get a larger arena, and better studies too.. the site for the arena is horrid..have you been there?

....and 20 years will be pretty crazy dont you think.. by then we will be at 1.2 million..we will have a professional sport by then its a no brainer.

[bradly]

Originally Posted by urbanabq

Oh, and Tulsa, Omaha, Des Moines, etc. are building bigger because they are thinking bigger than us, unfortunately.

They look bigger than us too, dont forget that however, population wise we are beating them and we are growing way faster too.. well ..we will be, thats a promise .

[funkymonkey]

Didn't an arena tax fail a few years ago? Try, and try again I suppose!

[desert sun]

If they would of just built the thing 5 years ago it would have been alot cheaper.

Tingley will not be an option no more so what do we do now about an arena? Do we borrow Rio Rancho's?