DOWNTOWN CIVIC CENTER Massillon project interests officials

The development company is waiting for an invitation from Youngstown officials to talk about building an arena.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
MASSILLON -- A company building a $20 million, 6,500-seat arena in downtown Massillon with mostly private money is interested in doing a similar project in Youngstown.
Officials with MG/Dove LLC of Carmel, Ind., say they've had preliminary talks with Youngstown Mayor George M. McKelvey about building an arena on land between the South Avenue and Market Street bridges that is the preferred site for a planned civic center.
"As far as we're concerned, it would be a fantastic market," said Spencer Brown, MG/Dove's vice president and one of the company's four principals, about Youngstown. "The question is, how can we help? It will be beneficial to everyone involved."
The next step is an invitation from McKelvey or other city officials to talk more, Brown said.
The company is using $19 million in private money and a $1 million state grant to build the 6,500-seat Massillon arena. Construction began Tuesday and will finish by September 2002.
Massillon city officials say the project will be the cornerstone of its downtown's revitalization. The city is building a recreation center across the street, off state Route 21, and there are plans to build a hotel nearby.
Federal funds: Brown said MG/Dove wouldn't need the $26.8 million Youngstown received from the federal government for a proposed civic center to put up its building. MG/Dove would want some of the federal money spent to buy the land and install roads and sewers, he said.
For example, Massillon is spending $8 million for new storm and sanitary sewers, widening streets and paving near the site.
Youngstown could use the rest of its federal money for a smaller government building that could include city offices, city courts and an auditorium for meetings and civic use, McKelvey said.
He sent Jay Williams, the city's community development agency director, to the ground-breaking ceremony. Williams asked the MG/Dove principals numerous questions and said the city is interested in further talks with the company.
"On the surface, this sounds like an attractive option," McKelvey said. "It appears to be a very interesting concept. Council and I are very desirous of seeing a project heavily leveraged with private dollars. We're seeing that done in a sister city."
City Councilmen Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, whose ward includes downtown, and James E. Fortune Sr., D-6th, council's finance committee chairman, said they are interested in talking more with MG/Dove.
"I look at this project as a way for the city to move further ahead than I ever could have imagined," Fortune said.
The city's 13-member arena board has been working on a proposed 10,000-seat arena that would cost about $40 million. The private sector would invest the money needed beyond the $26.8 million.
McKelvey had said if that private-sector money wasn't available, the city would consider scaling back the project.
Unexpected: But no city official envisioned finding a private company interested in funding most of the project.
"When you see the private sector putting 95 cents out of every $1 into a project, that's promising; that's the type of proposal that should be a benchmark for all projects," McKelvey said.
The Massillon arena already has a United Hockey League team available and is in preliminary talks to also be the home of an Arena Football 2 team, a minor league of the Arena Football League, Brown said.
Two years of planning were done before construction started on the Massillon arena. Although this is MG/Dove's first arena project, the company has experience with construction and development of entertainment venues.
"Youngstown offers us the same opportunity as Massillon -- the opportunity to revitalize a downtown and to partner with a community," said Tom McMullen, the company's chief financial officer and one of its four principals.
Concerns: The company has some concerns that would need to be addressed before serious talks could happen with Youngstown, McMullen said. Concerns are parking and utilities such as water and sewers, he said.
Although the Massillon project has only 250 parking spots on site, several downtown parking lots will be used once the arena opens, McMullen said. Also, lots would be built if the need for more parking arises, he said.
MG/Dove wants to build about four more 6,500-seat arenas and has had preliminary talks with South Bend, Ind., and Joliet, Ill. The concept is to book mainstream concerts and other entertainment at the arenas and use the strength of many guaranteed bookings as the attraction to schedule those acts, Brown said.
"If I can book four different locations on one act, it increases their interest in coming to our facilities," Brown said. "It helps us market better. We can say, 'We've got four or five or six arenas and we can book you here, here, here and here. Instead of booking one night, we're booking six nights."
The company is also using a stadium licensing-type approach to raising money.
Besides the standard luxury box/loge packages, the company is offering a best seat program. That plan lets those participating buy the 500 best tickets to every event at the arena for the first three years for $400.
For $100 for three years, a plan called "arena first" guarantees that a person can't be shut out of buying seats for any event.
skolnick@vindy.com