Pending questions warrant city taking its time on arena

When two United States senators offer to help a city make the best use of a federal gift of $25 million it is, at least, bad form for the city to respond by giving the senators a seven-day deadline to do the impossible.
But that's what the city of Youngstown did last week when it said U.S. Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine would have seven working days after a council vote to secure a written commitment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to broaden a HUD grant's use for something other than an arena.
Broadening the scope -- which we believe is desirable for a number of reasons -- was seen as a near certainty a few weeks ago. While we acknowledge that reprogramming the money did not go as smoothly as had been hoped, it could still be done, and city council and Mayor George McKelvey should not be so quick in foreclosing on the possibility.
There is a middle ground to be reached. DeWine and Voinovich can, in relatively quick order, get an assurance from HUD that the city has additional time to decide what to do with the $25 million. The senators could then pursue reprogramming the money so that it could be used for a variety of downtown redevelopment projects.
At the same time, city council, which is intent on building an arena, could do what any businessman contemplating the spending of $25 million of his own dollars would do -- research.
Questions
Where is the marketing plan that identifies the kind of attractions that would be brought to a 5,500-seat facility, and who would be expected to attend the events? How many days a year would the facility be in operation? What kind of a payroll would it have to carry, and how would personnel and other expenses be met? How does this facility compare or contrast with that envisioned by its initial sponsor, former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.? What effect would the facility be likely to have on downtown development? What has been the experience of other cities with similar facilities? What attractions would be drawn to this new facility that could not be attracted to Beeghly Center at Youngstown State University, which has almost exactly the same capacity? If the proposed operator of the facility, Global Entertainment Corp. of Phoenix, was prepared to enter an agreement a week ago as nearly an equal partner, with the city putting up only $12 million of the grant, why turn over the entire $25 million now?
The biggest question: What's the hurry? Yes, we understand that for a variety of reasons this project has dragged out far longer than anyone would have anticipated. But time remains to seek answers to all the questions that should nag at the minds of prudent stewards of the taxpayers' money.
Those who advocate quick, definitive action might respond with the folk wisdom that he who hesitates is lost. We side with James Thurber, who observed that he who hesitates is sometimes saved.