Walaker proposes addition
By Mike Nowatzki, The Forum
Published Wednesday, November 29, 2006
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=147821Fargo Dome Authority members saw a slam-dunk Tuesday in Mayor Dennis Walaker?s proposal to add a multipurpose arena to the Fargodome to host Bison basketball and other events.
Walaker said the 7,000- to 8,000-seat addition will ensure the dome?s success as a regional events center and keep North Dakota State University?s home court on campus.
The university is also considering an offer from developer Ace Brandt to move Bison hoops into a proposed 8,000- to 8,500-seat arena in his Urban Plains by Brandt development in south Fargo.
Walaker said he?s afraid Brandt?s arena would draw events away from the Fargodome and, coupled with changes in the concert industry, turn the city-owned dome into a money-losing facility for the first time since it opened in 1992.
The Dome Authority voted unanimously to appoint members Ryn Pitts and David Suppes to a task force to explore the feasibility of an addition and come up with a preliminary cost estimate. Walaker said he doesn?t have a rough price tag.
The addition would sit on the dome?s west side and accommodate smaller concerts, basketball games and other conventions and trade shows, Walaker said in a letter distributed Tuesday to the Dome Authority, city commissioners and NDSU President Joseph Chapman.
If everything goes smoothly, the addition could be open by fall 2008, Walaker said.
Dome Authority President Marilyn Guy said the group is excited about the flexibility an addition could provide for hosting smaller, more intimate events and larger events by combining the two arenas.
Walaker and others stressed several times that the addition would not host hockey. The city will leave that up to Brandt, who has proposed a 4,000-seat, four-sheet hockey complex that Walaker called ?extremely appropriate.?
The addition would have to be built in partnership with NDSU, Walaker said.
About $12 million to $15 million in excess revenue from the half-cent Fargodome sales tax could be available for the addition, he said. Revenue from the tax was originally projected to grow by 4 percent annually, but instead has grown by 7 percent to 8 percent per year, he said.
The 20-year tax expires Dec. 31, 2008.
The city also could sell the naming rights for the addition or the dome itself, he said.
Private donations from NDSU supporters also would play a major role in funding an addition, Walaker said.
NDSU has raised more than $8 million to renovate the Bison Sports Arena, its current home court. But the total cost is estimated at more than $16 million, said Erv Inniger, NDSU?s senior associate athletic director for development and one of the seven Dome Authority members.
Walaker, a past president of NDSU Team Makers, said spending that much money on the BSA when the Bison could be playing in a new arena ?seems like a travesty.?
As proposed Tuesday, the addition would need approval from a majority of the Dome Authority and City Commission, and Walaker said he believes there?s support.
Dome Authority member Russ Johnson said it?s the perfect time to look seriously at a dome addition. But in a written statement to his fellow members and Walaker, he said he found it ?very disturbing? that he wasn?t notified of a meeting last week at NDSU during which dome-related business was discussed.
Walaker explained that he was invited to the meeting, which he said also was attended by City Administrator Pat Zavoral, Fargo Planning Commission Chairman John Q. Paulsen, Chapman, NDSU Athletic Director Gene Taylor and John Adams, NDSU?s vice president for business and finance.
Walaker said the meeting?s purpose was to gauge NDSU?s interest in Brandt?s offer. He said Chapman called it a very attractive offer and one that NDSU has to consider ?unless somebody else steps forward.?
Chapman could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
Walaker said he will likely appoint City Commissioner Brad Wimmer and either himself or Commissioner Tim Mahoney to serve on the task force.
Inniger said Bison hoops could remain in the BSA for another year or two while the dome addition is being built.
Keith Bjerke, NDSU?s vice president for university relations and a Dome Authority member, said NDSU will continue to visit with all parties involved about a basketball arena.
?But the partnerships we?ve had with the city have been successful, and there?s no reason to think that won?t continue,? he said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
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I say build it, it will make Bison sports and the city that much better!