Car dealer says he’s building $2B NHL arena project 30 miles north of Atlanta, not nearly enough people laugh

access_time personNeil deMause

What with there only being a limited number of major-league sports teams in North America, and with leagues having a monopoly on who gets let into the owners’ club, if you’re a rich person with a hankering to be an owner, there are pretty much only two things you can do: Stand up and loudly wave cash around in hopes someone will sell you a team, or declare that you’re ready to build a stadium or arena for one and hope it gets you on the map. That’s what former NBA player Jackie Robinson has been saying in Las Vegas for nearly a decade, it’s what the Salt Lake City MLB hopefuls did last week, and now it’s apparently the turn of Georgia auto dealer Vernon Krause, who says he’s going to build a $2 billion arena and “entertainment hub” on the northern outskirts of Atlanta. Krause’s goal would be to bring the NHL back to the city, or at least thereabouts, for the first time since the Thrashers left town in 2011 — though to hear him and local officials talk, it’s really less about hockey than about bringing excitement and economic glory to the culture-starved residents of Atlanta’s exurbs:

“As a global entertainment hub, The Gathering at South Forsyth will provide residents, employers and visitors with the ability to see their favorite musician, experience a family-friendly ice show or eat at a James Beard-awarded restaurant without having to sit in their car for hours,” Krause said in [a press] release…

“The Gathering at South Forsyth will be an economic driver like no other,” Forsyth County Chairman Alfred John said in the release.

Krause, who has never developed anything before, compared his dream project to The Battery, the Atlanta Braves stadium-and-other-crap development in Cobb County just to Atlanta’s west. As you might expect, this is not sitting well with Kennesaw State University economist J.C. Bradbury, who studied the Braves project and found it was costing Cobb taxpayers $15 million a year.

More on Bradbury’s Twitter by the time I’ve finished typing this post, probably.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the project’s “public cost is uncertain” but that it would certainly require a ton of new roads and infrastructure, for starters. The Forsyth County Commission is set to meet next Tuesday to discuss the plan in further detail; I, for one, hope someone explains what the deal is with the giant flaming guitar.

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12 comments on “Car dealer says he’s building $2B NHL arena project 30 miles north of Atlanta, not nearly enough people laugh”

  1. This is fantastic news for those who want Quebec City to get an NHL team. With the NHL having failed in Atlanta twice and teams departing because there was literally no-one in the nation who wanted to own the Atlanta franchise, this development (if built) puts Quebec City in prime position to snap up the new Atlanta franchise for relocation within ten years (at most) of it’s first game.

  2. If it turns out this is just a scheme floated by the Phoenix Coyotes to gain leverage to threaten to move to Atlanta, I will gain new respect for them.

    1. “The Gathering at South Forsyth will be an economic driver like no other,” Forsyth County Chairman Alfred John said in the release.”

      I can’t…

      1. In fairness, he didn’t necessarily specify it would be an ‘economic driver like no other’ in a good way.

  3. Our Pop. and northern Pop. is growing.
    597,000+ migrations influx of all types to FL + GA. + SC.
    Build it, compete they will come by the droves.
    Emerson GA. gets 5 M visitors per yr. Peaking at Lake pointe terminus sports Complexes.
    Rome has tennis.
    Gwinnett has baseball & hockey.
    Statesboro has soccer.
    Emmanuel coll. Jefferson has lacrosse on TV tourneys.
    Cobb has baseball and venues.
    Sav. now has a WNBA arena soon!
    Hawks could play there too!
    Fulco has too much.
    NW GA. has 89,000 coll. students.
    Spr. Breakers 1.3M students GA. + FL.
    Also, Nola and Biloxi is crazy Gulf!
    GA. + FL. 260+ M passengers per yr. at Metros airports.
    Delta ~ > 13000 flights.
    USA ditto!
    Delta hires trains 50 pilots per wk. That is 1 every 3or4 hrs.
    8500 truckers GA. 75 per day peaking logistics.
    111+ music studios in Metros of GA. & Fla. min.
    Tupelo Ms. 3
    Macon 2.
    Assembly Doraville is being slapped up.
    Cartersv. is being slapped up∆ .

    2. Why do you keep including Florida in your metrics.

      I live in Tampa and I would never drive to this place despite being a diehard hockey fan.

      So I can’t begin to fathom patronage from further destinations like Pensacola and Miami

  4. I love hockey! Bring NHL back to Atlanta, Georgia. Shove it up!

    Sincerely,
    Winston P. Jones

    1. This would be great the City of Atlanta cant support Hockey but the burbs can …if out of the City hockey will go here …

  5. Culture starved residents of Atlanta… are ya just stupid or an elitest butt wipe….
    That’s a damn good opening statement to get the people on board with the project….
    What a dumb azz
    Typical statements of a pompous arrogant rich boy….

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