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Fargo may build 8000 seat rink


jloos

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There's no cost estimate for just the arena. The $0.005 sales tax would cover $40MM, private sources would cover the other $60MM. This is what the whole $100MM covers:

U2Bad1: Round numbers, The Betty was about $8 MM.

I'm assuming it'd be a public arena and the office/retail and condos would be private. Wouldn't it follow that public dollars go for the public spaces and private dollars for the privately held spaces?

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Good ole Mike McFeely has it right in todays Forum, Arena proposal stuck in no-man's land. McFeely must not be concerned about job security because he sure can be an irritant to the powers that be at NDSU. Since the Forum and NDSU are in bed together (financially and otherwise), even NDSU readers of this post have got to tip their hat to McFeely for his chutzpah.

The developers are pitching high school hockey, high school basketball, high school volleyball, high school badminton, high school tiddlywinks. High school, high school, high school. Anything high school.

Prediction: We're going to hear that this is "for the kids" no less than 12.5 million times until the issue goes to the polls.

We know better, of course. Like all business ventures, it's about money. And in this case, 40 million public clams is nothing at which to blow your nose.

Which is why, even at this early stage, we need to ask questions. Like, why in the world do two Fargo public high schools (three down the road) need a $40 million, publicly-financed, 4,500-seat downtown arena in which to play a handful of sports?

I think NDSU is already quietly and discretely in the mix in contrast to McFeely's statement below.

No, if the developers are serious about this big-time project, they will have to bring NDSU into the mix sooner or later. They will have to admit that an 8,500-seat arena made to house the Bison's Division I basketball programs -- while still being available for high school sports and concerts -- would be the best use of $40 million.

That might not be as tasteful or easy to sell to the voters, but it is the right way to go.

NDSU has been noticeable by its absence in this project. Perhaps it is biding its time, seeing how the winds blow before trying to be a player.

The school's administrators and athletic department are in a tough spot. If the Bison come on too strongly, they risk turning off residents who want nothing to do with financing another sports arena for the biggest player in town. But if they stay out of it completely, there's a chance NDSU's best shot at a real D-I basketball venue could pass while Gene Taylor and Co. stands meekly on the sideline.

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No, if the developers are serious about this big-time project, they will have to bring NDSU into the mix sooner or later. They will have to admit that an 8,500-seat arena made to house the Bison's Division I basketball programs -- while still being available for high school sports and concerts -- would be the best use of $40 million.

;):huh: 8,500 seat arena for BB in Fargo? There is no way NDSU needs an 8500 person arena for BB. How many people attend the games now? 2,000 tops would be my guess. I fail to see why people think moving to D1 will increase peoples interest in attending these games. NDSU (nor UND) will ever be able to recruit players to make a legitimate BB team.

While the move to D1AA for football was a good idea (and will be a necessary move for UND) they do so at the expense of many other sports. Womens BB may have some good seasons while Amy Ruley is around, but the mens program all but ended when they went D1. Besides football the only other sport the D1 move was good for was wrestling - again because of the coach, once Bucky's gone so goes the program.

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Well, $100 MM here, $100 MM there, pretty soon you're talkin' real money. :silly:

On Friday, the (Fargo-Moorhead) Metropolitan Water Supply Committee will receive preliminary estimates of the cost of 16 potential plans to bring more water to the community by 2050.

The estimated price tag of each of the plans will exceed $100 million, said Nate Weisenburger of Grand Forks, N.D.-based Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services, which is preparing the estimates.

Weisenburger called the estimates, on which his company was still working last week, "mind-boggling numbers."

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm...94&section=news

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