Orleans unveils plans for its arena

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002 | 10:39 a.m.

Before the events of Sept. 11 took hold of the local economy resulting in a decline in tourism, a $140 million expansion of the Orleans hotel-casino already was in the works.

Part of the expansion plans included a 9,000-seat multi-purpose arena suitable for all types of sporting events and other forms of entertainment.

As Michael Gaughan, chairman of Coast Resorts Inc., tells it, the company had two choices after Sept. 11: Stop construction completely or keep going as planned.

It decided on the latter.

Gaughan and Orleans Arena vice president Steve Stallworth were among the casino moguls who gathered at the site of the Orleans Arena for a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

"Michael Gaughan has always done things first class and this is no exception," Stallworth said. "It is going to be absolutely unbelievable."

The Orleans Arena was supposed to be built at a cost of $20 million, but a series of upgrades has vaulted the cost to roughly $43 million, according to Gaughan.

Scheduled to be completed in spring 2003, the arena will have numerous amenities such as granite floors, the highest restroom-to-guest ratio of any facility in the country, a private concourse level with 24 suites and 220 club seats and an audio/video system replete with two LED video screens and an LED wraparound video system.

The Orleans Arena will also have the largest upholstered arena seats in the valley and wide aisles, providing added comfort.

Stallworth said the arena will name its first tenant in the near future, a minor league hockey team.

"We fully were hoping to announce a team today," Stallworth said. "We're talking to several leagues right now.

"We fully expect to have a hockey team in the building by fall of 2003."

That is the same time the expansion Las Vegas Wranglers of the West Coast Hockey League are scheduled to begin play in a proposed downtown arena called the Las Vegas Events Center.

Gaughan said he welcomes the challenge of competing with a similar venue.

"My competition is primarily going to be MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and Thomas & Mack," Gaughan said. "Downtown was something that we hadn't thought about when we began this.

"I am never worried about competition. Competition makes it a little more exciting for me."

The Orleans Arena will seat approximately 7,000 to 7,500 for hockey, which is about the same as the planned seating capacity for Las Vegas Events Center.

A big difference, however, will be parking.

The downtown arena won't have a parking structure, forcing patrons to park in nearby casino parking lots, while the Orleans Arena will have a 2,600-space parking garage and 4,000 more open parking spaces.

Gaughan plans on owning both the team and arena, a move Stallworth said will translate to lower ticket and concessions prices for fans.

Stallworth, a former UNLV quarterback, worked under the Thomas & Mack umbrella when the arena housed the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League from 1993-99.

He said that the cost to lease a building is a pro franchise's biggest expense, and that cost is usually deferred to the customer in one way or another.

"For us, we'll be able to take that out of the equation," Stallworth said. "If we don't own the team, then we fully expect to have a partnership with whoever might.

"The market will dictate whether two teams can make it, or one, or none. Our motivation is to put a quality team on the ice, provide affordable concessions and plenty of free, convenient parking.

"I think if you add all those things up, we make a lot of sense for the locals."

To Gaughan, affordable is the key word.

"My customers would shoot me before they'd pay me $5 for a beer," he said.