Gov. Ned Lamont proposes $55M investment in Hartford’s XL Center arena

[huskymedic]

Wasn't Groundhog Day Sunday?


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[superjohn]

Wasn't Groundhog Day Sunday?


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Could have built a beautiful brand new arena by now. What a disaster that state is.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Wasn't Groundhog Day Sunday?


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Maybe it's Ned Ryerson, not Lamont?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

What’s 55 million gonna get? New soda machines?

 

[BlueDogs]

What’s 55 million gonna get? New soda machines?

Unfortunately, that arena is dead and no money is going to fix it. Without a major anchor attraction, it’s pissing away good money after bad. Get an NHL team in and do it right. Concert venues have eaten up that business and the Wolfpack isn’t the answer.

 

[zmart]

The XL Center currently loses $2-$3 million dollars a year. In a state with a $20 billion dollar annual budget I hardly think that is anything to lose sleep over.

 

[Palatine]

Typical Lamont. Anything worth doing is worth doing half-arsed.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Typical Lamont. Anything worth doing is worth doing half-arsed.

gotta agree. Take a good idea that might generate opposition. Let’s cut it in half and make no one happy.

 

[FatHank]

Doze it and raze new.

 

[Austin316]

Maybe it’s just me... but I think 55M is going to be a beautiful facelift on the ole gal.

 

[BFieldHusky]

I could be mistaken but the article states that the 55 million would be in addition to 35 million that's already been approved. So really it would be around 100 million.

Edit: 90 million. Sorry I suck at math.

 

[fatlucy]

I could be mistaken but the article states that the 55 million would be in addition to 35 million that's already been approved. So really it would be around 100 million.

You’re right. It does, $100m. None of the Negative Nellies above bothered to read it.

 

[Hoophound]

Well, 90 million but who’s counting?

 

[FatHank]

Read articles? Read articles?? We don't need to read no stinking articles to post meaningful and well-thought out and thought provoking internet forum posts!!!

 

[Lynyrd]

This is why we can't have nice things

 

[huskymedic]

I could be mistaken but the article states that the 55 million would be in addition to 35 million that's already been approved. So really it would be around 100 million.

Edit: 90 million. Sorry I suck at math.

You’re right. It does, $100m. None of the Negative Nellies above bothered to read it.

>>The $55 million — $27.5 million for the current fiscal year and the same in the next — would still need to be approved by state lawmakers and authorized by the State Bond Commission. If it is, however, it would be added to $35 million already backed by the bond commission for the project, bringing the total close to the $100 million.<<

 

[gampelcrazies]

>>The $55 million — $27.5 million for the current fiscal year and the same in the next — would still need to be approved by state lawmakers and authorized by the State Bond Commission. If it is, however, it would be added to $35 million already backed by the bond commission for the project, bringing the total close to the $100 million.<<

I thought I was miss reading based on the responses above. $100 million would alright but still would be far short to making the arena nice.

Also, I wonder what kind of responses they got from the survey sent to season ticket holders.

 

[CL82]

The XL Center currently loses $2-$3 million dollars a year. In a state with a $20 billion dollar annual budget I hardly think that is anything to lose sleep over.

As I said before two or 3 million here and two or 3 million there and sooner or later you’re talking about real money.

Keep in mind that that two or 3 million loss is after UConns men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and hockey overpays for the venue effectively subsidizing it.

I’m not a big believer in the “ Field of dreams” theory of business development. The CDRA seems to believe that “if we re-build it they will come.” I would much rather see a coherent business plan that justifies the state investing in the venue rather than just chucking more money down that sinkhole and keeping our fingers crossed it’ll all work out.

 

[Deepster]

Could have built a beautiful brand new arena by now. What a disaster that state is.

Glad to see you're finally coming around on this whole Hartford thing.

 

[BlueDogs]

As I said before two or 3 million here and two or 3 million there and sooner or later you’re talking about real money.

Keep in mind that that two or 3 million loss is after you cans men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and hockey over pays for the venue effectively subsidizing it.

I’m not a big believer in the “ Field of dreams” theory of business development. The CDRA seems to believe that “if we re-build it they will come.” I would much rather see a coaching business plan that justifies the state investing in the venue rather than checking more money down that sinkhole in keeping our fingers crossed it’ll all work out.

I’m all for thinking big. Our problem is we think medium-small and hedge our bets, this inviting mediocrity at best and failure at worst. If you want to go big, then go big and get an NHL or NBA team in there. Better yet, drop the $100 Million into subsidizing a P5 move and you’ve created the draw for entertainment year round. Drop a casino next to the convention center, and pull in some entertainment and it becomes a place to visit. We always spend just enough to guarantee failure.

 

[John]

It's a great plan if it's $55 million worth of dynamite.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I don't see how $100 million gets that building where it needs to be. I liked the $250 million option. Go big or go home.

 

[CTBasketball]

Good luck getting it from Northland. They'll blow it up with themselves still inside.

 

[Devland]

Could have built a beautiful brand new arena by now. What a disaster that state is.

I heard that is what happened when Gampel was built. Original plan was for a bigger arena. By the time they got through all the red tape they had to scale it back because the money allocated wouldn't buy as much. Not sure if this was true. Was told this by an engineering professor who I did some work with.

 

[bendm]

then go big and get an NHL or NBA team in there

cities w/o a nba team: vegas, seattle, san diego...hartford.