Arena plans move ahead to keep hockey team onboard

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 8:54 a.m.

Plans are moving forward for a downtown arena as developers edge closer to a fall groundbreaking that must take place to secure its anchor tenant.

Boyd Gaming Corp. officials will have their plans for a 6,500-seat arena reviewed by the Las Vegas Planning Commission on Thursday. They will also request a special use permit for the project at the corner of Main Street and Stewart Avenue.

The two applications may be procedural, but they also serve as a sign to Charles Davenport, owner of the minor league hockey team Wranglers, that the arena is on schedule to be built in time for the fall 2003 season, a key official said.

"Charles' concern was would this thing actually be built," said Mark Paris, president of the Fremont Street Experience. "I think we have demonstrated that it will be."

Davenport last month said he was exploring other options for his team because he was concerned that the arena would not be built in time for the 2003 season. The Orleans in February broke ground on a 7,500-seat arena designed to house minor league hockey.

If the plans are approved by the commission, the council will take up the project for a final vote Aug. 21. Ground will be broken on the project shortly thereafter, Paris said.

The arena is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming and the Fremont Street Experience, which formed a nonprofit known as Las Vegas Events Center Inc. Larry Leasure, a developer in Idaho, is developing the project.

While the group has a nonbinding letter of intent with Davenport as an anchor tenant, Paris said the members are working to finalize arrangements with the minor league hockey owner.

The arena tentatively includes a 4,800-square-foot sports bar and an initial offering of 20 corporate suites.

California-based NBBJ -- which designed the Staples Center in Los Angeles -- is designing the project.