Proposed hockey arena now being considered for center city, not riverfront

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Copyright 2011 The Morning Call

ID: 4880580

Publication Date: February 23, 2011Day: WednesdayPage: A1Edition: FIRSTSection:Type:Dateline:Column:Length: long

Byline: Christopher Baxter OF THE MORNING CALL

Headline: ** Proposed hockey arena now being considered for centercity, not riverfront.

The $80 million hockey arena at the heart of Mayor Ed Pawlowski'sambitious vision for Allentown's waterfront now appears slated forSeventh Street, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, amove that could dramatically alter the economic fortunes of center city.

Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, who has been privy todiscussions about the project, said Tuesday that the Philadelphia Flyers'minor league team now could make its home on the lot where sinkholeswrecked the Corporate Plaza building 17 years ago.

"It's an encouraging shift of direction by the city," said Cunningham, whonoted the change has been discussed among city officials and at a recentAllentown Economic Development Corp. meeting. "I think this can be acatalyst for continual revitalization of downtown Allentown."

A second source, who asked to remain anonymous because negotiationson the location and to acquire properties in the area are ongoing andconfidential, confirmed the desire for a center city location and said theold Corporate Plaza site, just north of Hamilton Street, is one of a fewoptions being considered in the Seventh Street area.

"I think that it's being seen as more of an all-encompassing development


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project if it's downtown rather than if it's on the riverfront," the sourcesaid.

Peter Lewnes, manager of the Main Street program on Seventh Street,said he has heard that Corporate Plaza is a "possible location." He

deferred comment to City Hall.

Pawlowski said in a statement Tuesday that he hopes to have anannouncement on the hockey arena in the coming weeks. He said theparties have agreed not to conduct negotiations in the news media, andthat the county has never been involved in direct negotiations over thearena.

"Over the last couple of years, interested parties have proposed,investigated and evaluated a number of different sites," Pawlowski said.

Cunningham noted "the city's in a lead role on this and they're trying tofind the best location and that's great."

Reasons for a possible shift to center city remain unclear. Several keypeople voiced concerns that building the arena on the waterfront woulduse up the city's last substantial developable space for new industrialventures, according to the source who asked to remain anonymous.

The change in venue would not affect the project's financing, which willmostly come from a special taxing district approved in legislation writtenby Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh.

It would, however, align the burgeoning success of Seventh Street withPawlowski's longstanding desire to bring a major entertainment anchor tocenter city. It also suggests the mayor is changing his plans for the LehighRiver waterfront, which was to feature the arena.

"It's clear this is a shift and they're trying to get everyone lined up,"Cunningham said.

Linda Merkel, executive director of the America on Wheels transportationmuseum near the riverfront, said she is aware of conversations to move

the arena to center city but added she is confident the land along theLehigh River remains a development priority.

The roughly 10,000-seat arena would be the permanent home of thePhantoms, a team that develops players for the Flyers and plays in aleague that is one step below the National Hockey League. The teamwould be the hockey equivalent of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, a feeder


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team for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Backers of the project have said they also envision the hockey arenahosting concerts, ice shows, graduations, trade shows and other eventsthat could attract thousands of people to Allentown's struggling core

business district.

The Brooks Group of Pittsburgh, which owns the Phantoms, choseAllentown as the new location for the team after its previous home, theSpectrum in Philadelphia, was marked for demolition. The Phantoms havebeen playing in Glens Falls, N.Y., while the owners prepare a permanenthome.

Rob Brooks of the Brooks Group did not return a message seekingcomment.

A center city location such as Corporate Plaza would not come withoutchallenges. The city Redevelopment Authority purchased the vacant lot in2009, but additional properties would probably have to be acquired on theblock, either by sale or eminent domain.

The Allentown Economic Development Corp. and the city are workingtogether on the arena project. Scott Unger, executive director of AEDC,did not return messages seeking comment.

The Housing Development Corp. of Lancaster County, through CenterSquare Partners, has signed an agreement of sale for the Corporate Plaza

site, but Cunningham said the company has been asked by officialsleading the project to consider different center city locations.

Jeff McCloud, a spokesman for HDC, declined to comment on thesituation other than to say there will be more information in a few weeks.

Additional parking may be needed to accommodate traffic for the arena.Tamara Weller, executive director of the Allentown Parking Authority,said the city has about 4,000 off-street parking spaces downtown, whichwould probably be enough for night events.

But she said anything during the day would probably require more space.

"We're fortunate in the sense that we have capacity," Weller said.

Another obstacle could be engineering the development, especially at theCorporate Plaza site, where two sinkholes opened and nearly swallowedthe seven-story office building on Feb. 23, 1994. Traffic could also be aproblem, considering Seventh and Hamilton streets are one-way in that


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part of the city.

"Logistically, if downtown doesn't work, then the riverfront goes back onthe table. But there's a hope to get it downtown," the source said. "Untilit's all signed, sealed and delivered, no one really knows what's going to

happen. If they did, there would have been a press conference already."

Cunningham said the riverfront site would take too long to developbecause of existing structures, potential environmental hurdles and thelack of infrastructure. He said the county has been pushing for a centercity location.

The majority of the project would be paid for through a first-of-its-kind,135-acre taxing district authorized in state legislation. The bill dedicatesall state tax money generated in the district for about the next 30 years togo to the development.

Negotiations have been ongoing during the past 18 months to determinethe district's exact parameters, which are not delineated in the legislationto "allow the city some flexibility" in selecting the site, Browne said thisweek.

He said he "has been privy to the conversations about other places thathave been considered" for the arena but declined to discuss the specifics."I'm sure something can be discussed finally very soon, though, onceparties have come to agreement about the parameters of the zone and whatwill be in it."

The idea of building an arena downtown has been considered in the past.In 2007, when the idea of this particular hockey arena surfaced,Pawlowski said he would prefer to see it downtown as a way to revitalizethe struggling business district.

By mid-2008, Pawlowski had shifted focus to the waterfront, thinking thearena could be part of a larger development project that might enticesubstantial state funding. A year later, the arena became the centerpiece ofhis lofty vision for land known for unrealized dreams.

Every mayor for more than two decades has pinned Allentown's economicfuture on waterfront development, and every plan has failed. Pawlowskihoped the arena would anchor a sports, entertainment, restaurant andrecreation district capable of drawing hundreds of thousands of people.

The mayor last year announced that the arena's opening season had beendelayed a year to 2013 because a key access point, the American Parkwaybridge over the Lehigh River, would not be open until the end of 2013.


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Now that bridge may be less of a factor in the plans.

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Proposed hockey arena now being considered for center city, not riverfront

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