389 replies to this topic

[BSLMikeLowe]

Maybe it was on OH, but there was a thread several years back that asked what you wish Baltimore had that it doesn't have now. IIRC, a fully integrated public transit system (rather than the underserving and disjointed pieces that currently exist) and a new arena were easily the most frequent things mentioned.

[DJ MC]

Because Johnson City probably has a better arena.

And we ain't gonna get any sports teams without one. Christ the Bullets left in 1972 when they played there.

 

The University of Maryland has two bigger arenas. You could probably make an argument over which of the Arena and Cole is "better".

[BSLMikeLowe]

The University of Maryland has two bigger arenas. You could probably make an argument over which of the Arena and Cole is "better".

At least Cole isn't named after a 7-eleven wannabe.

[DJ MC]

At least Cole isn't named after a 7-eleven wannabe.

 

Could be worse. Could be Wawa or Sheetz.

[mweb08]

At least Cole isn't named after a 7-eleven wannabe.

 
Could be worse. Could be Wawa or Sheetz.

Wawa is really good. So is Royal Farms. Not seeing the problem here with the name.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Could be worse. Could be Wawa or Sheetz.

 

[tennOsfan]

You all cannot understand how much I love Wawa and Sheetz.  We have nothing remotely as advanced as those meccas of convenience.

[SammyBirdland]

Could be worse. Could be Wawa or Sheetz.

 

 

Or "Royal Farms Fried Chicken Arena".

[Pedro Cerrano]

You all cannot understand how much I love Wawa and Sheetz.  We have nothing remotely as advanced as those meccas of convenience.

 

For a while the Wawa on Knox Road in College Park was my second favorite place on Earth after Camden Yards.

 

Alas, RIP.

[NewMarketSean]

Sheetz is so much better than Wawa.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Sheetz is so much better than Wawa.

 

Wow you've been wrong a lot lately.  Everything ok?  Feeling warm?

[NewMarketSean]

Sheetz has pretzel rolls. That automatically gives it an edge.

[Matt_P]

It's spelled out pretty good in the initial posts of this thread... but... we'd be a better destination for conference (NCAAB) tournaments... NCAAT regionals... Some of the concerts that skips Baltimore would  now come...

The events that are there now, would be better...

Most importantly... a new Arena would be in-conjunction with increasing the size of the convention center.... allowing Baltimore to attract larger conventions (and make use of the Hilton, built for conventions)...  those conventions being huge money makers for the City.

Lastly, just because Baltimore is (probably) not currently viable to house the NBA or NHL... if you had an Arena with the requisite amount of skyboxes, it would at-least be theoretically possible (if you could then sell those boxes) at some point in time. (And even if it is not viable now, we should not shut the doors on the idea that it might be in 10-15 years.)

What I want is an arena with at-least 18,500 seats, and skyboxes comparable to the Arenas in Philly and DC.

 

I know that the State of Maryland wasn't happy when the Nationals moved into town because the Orioles signed a 30 year lease for the stadium and paid rent equal to 7 percent of net admissions revenues, 10% of luxury suite revenues, 7.5% of club level license or membership fees and 7.5% of concession revenues. The Os retain 50% of revenues from parking operated by the MSA and 75% of advertising revenues.

 

I remember skimming a letter that the State of Maryland sent to MLB when this whole thing was going down. I don't think I could find it without looking for a few hours at this point.

[RShack]

I like the idea and hope it works for the City... so I'm not trying to torpedo the idea in any way, but I wonder...

 

Does it ever happen that consultants return with a report that says, "Nope, bad idea, don't do it, stay put"?  

 

And if they do, do they stay in business for very long?  

 

These sorts of project analyses only get done when some client wants a project done... so they hire somebody to tell them what they want is a great idea... are the consultants ever gonna tell the client to not want what they want?

[Nigel Tufnel]

Howard County was thinking about building a big tennis complex recently, that could have possibly hosted WTA/ATP events, but the plans were scrapped after the consultants report said it wouldn't be cost effective. It could be that that's the answer the county wanted, though.<br />

[BSLChrisStoner]

Baltimore Business Journal: Exclusive: Cordish floating plans to build Inner Harbor arena on Piers 5 and 6

http://www.bizjourna...na.html?ana=fbk

[BSLMikeLowe]

Baltimore Business Journal: Exclusive: Cordish floating plans to build Inner Harbor arena on Piers 5 and 6

http://www.bizjourna...na.html?ana=fbk

 

 

Here's the part that matters...

 

An NBA or NHL franchise is not being contemplated for the building, sources say, but it would be designed for an expansion in the future should a professional sports team express interest in Baltimore.

 

Unlikely though it might be, the surest way to guarantee and NBA/NHL team will never come to Baltimore is to build a facility that holds only 15,000-16,000. As long as the potential expansion is feasible for a pro franchise, then I'm all for it....but I agree that both traffic and parking could be a concern with that spot. And it sounds as though the opportunity to build an arena along with the convention center expansion died with Willard Hackerman.

[DJ MC]

A partnership between the Cordish and Patarakis families. That's one way to get your financing.

[RShack]

Getting kinda crowded down there... without an onsite subway station that most folks can actually use, it would be a nightmare getting in and out.

[NewMarketSean]

Getting kinda crowded down there... without an onsite subway station that most folks can actually use, it would be a nightmare getting in and out.

I don't like this plan for an arena, but it's probably the best chance we've got to get one.

There are two metro stops within walking distance of that location and if the Red Line is built that will provide some better access too.

Traffic would be an issue. 81 dumps off onto President Street so coming from the northern side of the city would be convenient but for people coming from all other locations, traffic would pretty much suck.