The business would move 20 miles east in 2028.
The old saw “Go west, young man” has usually been credited to the 19th century New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley urging westward expansion in America. But in the case of the owner of the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles franchise, Martin Lind, going east is his objective. Lind wants to move his business from Loveland, Colorado to Greeley which is 20 miles east of the team’s present location in 2028. Lind wants to build an arena-village in Greeley and the Greeley city council thinks Lind’s plan will be a “game changer” in the city of almost 113,000 people. The Greeley City Council voted to throw money into the planned $1 billion entertainment district. Lind plans to build an arena that will become the home of his Colorado Eagles franchise along with youth hockey rinks, a water park and hotel. How much money the city will give Lind is unknown and what mechanism will be used to raise the money is unknown. There is also the problem of a tariff on steel and other materials which can raise the cost of the project. Greeley will finance its portion of the project through bonding, general improvement district financing and operating revenues generated after opening. Among the gadgets that could be used is using the taxes generated in the district and kicking that money back to the developer to pay down the project’s debt.
Lind offered a similar deal to Loveland but struck out in his attempt. He blamed local politicians for the defeat, saying that the Larimer County elected officials did not invest enough staff time to determine the request for proposals to attract a hotel to the project. In Loveland, officials are looking beyond hockey to fill up dates at the 22-year-old venue which seats more than 7,000 people. Some arenas that have lost hockey teams have made up the money by offering more events.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
Horace Greeley
