DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN Arena plan must be downsized because of cost, mayor reports

By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city is being forced to scale back the proposed downtown arena to bring the cost into the affordable range, Mayor George McKelvey said.
"We can't afford to build a 10,000-seat arena," the mayor said. "We're already down in the area of 5,000 to 6,000 seats, and we don't know if we can afford that," the mayor added.
In the 5,000-to-6,000-seat range, "the proposals we've seen so far cost more than $25 million," the mayor said. The city already spent $1.5 million of a $26.8 million federal grant to buy the 26-acre arena site, between the South Avenue and Market Street bridges.
"We have been looking for a private-sector partner that will invest private dollars, which will enable us to build a first-class facility," McKelvey said.
The issue of building and operating an arena the city can afford has been a point of contention in recent weeks between McKelvey and former State Sen. Harry Meshel.
McKelvey invited Meshel to deliver an arena proposal to the city's development team and join the team while his proposal is reviewed, but Meshel declined.
"That's not an authoritative body," Meshel said of the mayor's team. "It's a group of people who've done work with the city of Youngstown, either as employees of the city, or as individuals who've performed tasks that have been requested of them by the city," Meshel said.
"[City] council has authorized me to negotiate a development agreement. I have delegated that responsibility to the development team members," the mayor said, adding that he has full confidence in the competency of the team.
"They will make a recommendation to me when they see an arena proposal they feel the city can afford to build, maintain and operate," the mayor said.
"We gave him a proposal four years ago. It's the same proposal we would make today," Meshel said of the plan for a 10,000-seat arena and convention center, which he said he and others submitted. "There's no point in repeating it. It's on his desk," Meshel added.
"Don't talk to me about four, five or six years ago," the mayor said. "You either have a proposal to build the arena now, or you don't."
Proposal made
Meshel said he had made that proposal four years ago along with other interested parties, including Bruce Zoldan, owner of B.J. Alan Fireworks Co. and The Ice Zone; and Thomas Chema, who led development of Cleveland's Gateway Center (Jacobs Field and Gund Arena).
Under that proposal, Alan Levin, owner of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, was to bring an indoor-arena football franchise to the new facility.
McKelvey said the proposal was made to Gov. Bob Taft, not to him.
McKelvey recalled traveling to Columbus with Zoldan and Leslie Cochran, who was then president of Youngstown State University, to try to win Gov. Taft's support for Zoldan's arena proposal. That was before U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. obtained the federal grant for the project. Taft asked what source of private money would be available for the arena, the mayor recalled.
Levin said last week that, "If the arena gets built, I will bring an arena football franchise into the market." If it isn't built, the franchise will have to go elsewhere, he said.
Levin said he'd also like to manage the arena or be part of its management team. However, he said, "If the question is: 'Will I pay for the bricks and mortar?' No."
Wants it built
Zoldan maintains his interest in seeing the arena built, said Atty. William Weimer, vice president and general counsel for B.J. Alan.
Because it has moved from the Continental Elite Hockey League to the North American Hockey League, the Youngstown Phantoms hockey team is under an obligation to increase seating at the Ice Zone, in Boardman, from the current level of fewer than 1,000 seats to 1,500 seats by the 2004-05 season, Weimer said.
If the NAHL moves from Tier 2 to Tier 1 status, the Phantoms would need at least 3,500 seats, which would require another expansion at the Ice Zone or moving the team downtown to the new arena, Weimer explained.
Is Zoldan willing to become an investor in the arena project? "Bruce can't possibly respond to any question about whether he's willing to invest without knowing the details of the investment," Weimer said, adding that Zoldan favors having the project managed by an independent arena board like the one that disbanded last year.
In the meantime, McKelvey said, he's still waiting for Meshel to submit his proposal to the city's development team. The mayor said that if Meshel were to submit a proposal, he'd convene the development team and make the proposal available to the press and the public.
Despite the demise of an arena board last year, Meshel called recently for the appointment of a new and independent public authority to bring about construction of the center.
The mayor responded with a letter to Meshel inviting him to deliver a proposal to the team and join it.
"The city of Youngstown cannot build an arena with opinions. We need enough money to build, operate and maintain an arena facility. Harry, talk is cheap. It's time to show me the money, Harry," the mayor wrote.