December 31, 2005
Meet the new year, same as the old year
Eight years after the Hartford Whalers hightailed it out of town for a new arena in North Carolina, the Associated Press reports that a Connecticut developer wants to tear down the Hartford Civic Center and replace it with a new $250 million building that would be used to lure a new NHL franchise:
"We've got our own money, we're willing to invest in an arena and we're willing to buy a team," [developer Lawrence Gottesdiener] said. "It would be an important entity and symbol of the city, the region and the state."
In the next paragraph, the AP explained what Gottesdiener meant by "our own money":
Gottesdiener's plan calls for a publicly subsidized, 16,000-seat venue that would be home to a major hockey team.
Ah, it's going to be a great 2006. Happy new year, everybody!
Hartford already has a major hockey team. The Wolfpack are simply massive.
Posted by Bertell Ollman on January 1, 2006 07:04 PM
The WolfPack play better hockey than the Whalers ever did. And they are averaging less than 5,000 fans a game, surely a sign an NHL team could survive in a city that has shrunk since 1997.
Posted by Mike on January 2, 2006 07:49 PM
This would be a good idea if they could lure the Hartford Hellions indoor soccer team back. The economic benefits would be....unspeakable.
Posted by joejoejoe on January 22, 2006 05:03 AM