YOUNGSTOWN Arena siting poses plight

Before site selection, the arena project must quickly resolve an unusual and complicated problem.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council has made little noticeable progress as it moves toward picking a site for the downtown civic center.
Yet even the city's own arena consultant says that a lot more people need to be considered and contacted before the site is picked. That contact should happen sooner than later, he said.
Potential tenants and building managers must be heard before a site is picked, said Tom Chema of the Gateway Consulting Group. He told the civic center board Thursday that the project needs to be identifying those groups now, which he called "stakeholders."
"It's very important the stakeholders participate in the ultimate selection process," he said.
Heard questions: Chema, whom the city paid to analyze sites for the proposed $40 million arena, appeared before the board to field questions.
Bruce Zoldan -- who once hired Chema to study the feasibility of a building a private arena -- backed up the consultant's view. Zoldan is assembling a group that will propose managing the building and bringing minor-league hockey and arena football teams to play there.
Zoldan told civic center board members he has to have input into site selection before committing any involvement.
"I can't emphasize enough how important that is," he said.
The project already may have nearly $30 million federal dollars for the project, but it faces an unusual problem, Chema said.
Big challenge: Most projects have tenants and operators first, then seek the money. Finding those tenants and managers in the context of site selection is a big challenge, he said.
"That makes your job more difficult, more complicated. You have to do a bunch of things at the same time," Chema said. "You probably have to make some decision pretty quickly."
The civic center board took one step toward that Thursday. Members approved sending Youngstown State University trustees a letter asking if the school is interested in being part of the project. YSU is assumed to be a key tenant but hasn't made a commitment.
Arena board members continue making plans while waiting for city council to empower them. Council has maintained tight control over the project as the first anniversary of funding approaches.
"We're all waiting," board member Paul A. Lyden said in response to a question about when something will happen.
Ill at ease: Chema described himself as constrained and ill at ease about talking with the civic center board because his work so far has been for the city.
Chema explained to the board how he crafted the report, outlining the good and bad points of six potential arena sites. He explored some sites suggested by people in the community, which he didn't identify, as well as others he picked himself.
There may be other possible sites that weren't studied, Chema said. All six sites that were reviewed, however, will work for tenants, economic development and traffic, he said.
"I believe all the sites in here fit the base criteria," he said.
Best for hotel: The Higbee and bus station sites and the area of the South Avenue and Market Street bridges would be best for building an adjacent hotel, he said.
An arena where the bus station sits wouldn't have to close Federal Street. The arena could be built on one side with a pedestrian bridge over the street linking to the hotel, Chema said.