Arena might lose main tenant

Diana Sahagun and Ron Kantowski

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas could lose the main tenant of a proposed downtown arena as Charles Davenport, owner of the Las Vegas Wranglers, is looking at a potential competitor to house his minor league hockey team.

The news came as a surprise to officials at the city and at Boyd Gaming Corp., who said they did not know Davenport has had discussions with officials of The Orleans about placing his new team in its arena, which is under construction.

But in an interview with the Sun on Monday, Davenport, chairman of Chandar Sports, which had signed a nonbinding letter of intent with Boyd to bring the Wranglers to the proposed downtown arena, confirmed that he is considering other options for a home for his team.

Davenport said he has serious concerns that the downtown arena won't be built in time for the 2003-04 season, noting that financing hasn't been arranged and ground hasn't been broken on the project at Stewart Avenue and Main Street.

"I think it's in my best interest to go back to square one and see what's possible (elsewhere in Las Vegas)," Davenport said. "We'd love to talk to The Orleans, to see what's possible."

The Orleans in February broke ground on a 7,500-seat arena that will house minor league hockey. The arena is scheduled to open in time for the 2003-04 season. Davenport said while he had conversations with Orleans officials that were unsuccessful months ago, recent discussions have taken a different turn.

"Surely we wanted it to work out. But the mayor has a city to run and we have a hockey team to run," Davenport said.

It's unknown whether Davenport's potential exit would hurt the proposed arena.

Although minor league hockey is supposed to be the arena's main tenant, it is "not critical," Mayor Oscar Goodman said this morning.

"There are a lot of other activities that are going to be taking place at the arena," Goodman said.

The arena is planned for many other uses, including Community College of Southern Nevada women's basketball, boxing, concerts and more.

He said every arena design has had hockey as an element and said he expects the arena to be finished on time.

Goodman said Davenport hasn't told him he was talking to The Orleans but "a prudent businessman would" talk to a competitor.

Davenport has signed a letter of intent with Boyd Gaming -- which is helping finance the project -- to locate downtown. The arena's developer, Idaho-based Larry Leasure, has modeled the downtown project after a successful arena in downtown Boise, where a minor league hockey team plays.

The planned arena is part of the city's ongoing effort to revitalize downtown. With the opening of Neonopolis blocks from the proposed arena and the future creation of an entertainment district east of Fremont Street, city officials are banking on the arena to help lure pedestrian traffic to the area.

Several council members, including Goodman, have traveled to the Idaho arena, impressed with the way the arena has spurred foot traffic to neighboring shops and restaurants.

The Las Vegas project is a joint venture between Boyd Gaming and the Fremont Street Experience, which formed a nonprofit known as Las Vegas Events Center Inc. Goodman sits on the board.

Rob Stillwell, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming, said as far as the company knows, the arena is moving forward with Davenport. Stillwell said the company had a meeting with Davenport as recently as a week ago, and the relationship was as good as ever.

"The downtown events center is making great progress and we're real pleased with where we are and what's happening," Stillwell said. "We're right on schedule."

While ground has not been broken on the project, the council last week approved a resolution to move forward with allocating $50 million in bonds toward financing for the project. The city also forgave a commitment by Boyd Gaming to build a parking garage on the arena site. In exchange, Boyd Gaming will put $2 million toward the project's financing.