WEST CARROLLTON -- The $52 million events center in Allen, Texas,sounds a lot like what West Carrollton city officials envision asthe anchor for the proposed Miami Bend entertainment district nearInterstate 75, south of Dayton.
Opened in 2009 with a concert by country star Reba McIntire, theAllen Event Center near U.S. 75 north of Dallas is home to minor-league hockey and football teams and surrounded by stores,restaurants and hotels.
Now West Carrollton hopes to lure minor-league hockey, soccer andfootball teams, potentially joining communities from GwinnettCounty, north of Atlanta, to Lincoln, Neb., as minor-league sportsmeccas.
'Happens all the time,' said David Broughton, research directorfor Sports Business Journal, in an email.
'Varying degrees of success.'
City's plan
West Carrollton will be working with Kent Oelkers, a consultantinvolved in developing the Allen Event Center, to decide whether topursue the development of an events center west of the city's new I-75 interchange.
While pointing to the Allen center, as well as facilities inDodge City, Kan., and Independence, Mo., as successes, Oelkerscautioned against too much early optimism.
'It's not a good fit for all communities,' he said. 'In the pastwe've walked from projects.'
West Carrollton Mayor Jeff Sanner said city officials wereexcited by the prospect of Dayton Gems hockey, Dayton Silverbacksindoor football and Dayton Dutch Lions soccer being played at anevents center in their city.
'They're all people that could use a facility like this,' Sannersaid. 'Whether it's a key aspect is yet to be determined.'
The sports teams, in combination with concerts and other events,could help make West Carrollton a 'destination location,' accordingto local officials.
Early next year, Oelkers will complete the first phase of amultipart study designed to measure, among other things, whetherthere is sufficient demand for an events center, where it should belocated and how it would be financed.
'It's going to have to be a public-private partnership,' Sannersaid.
The Texas example
The Allen Americans won a Central Hockey League conferencechampionship and a trip to the finals in 2010. In March, the centerbecomes home to the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference men's andwomen's basketball tournaments. Concerts and rodeos fill other dateson the center's calendar.
Still, there have been problems. The city and GlobalEntertainment, the consultants group that built and was managing thecenter, split in a dispute. Litigation continues, while the city hastaken over the center's management.
'Overall the city council's goal was to make Allen a regionaltourist destination,' said assistant city manager Wes Pierson. 'It'sdone a lot to put Allen on the map.'
Rather than financed directly by Allen, about $40 million in debton the center is being paid off by the MGHerring Group, the Dallas-based developer of the retail around the arena, through sales andticket taxes, Pierson said.
'We're not scrambling to make debt payments,' he said.
Much like development at the Austin Boulevard I-75 interchange,south of West Carrollton, the Allen center and commercialdevelopments around it were financed through different economicdevelopment funding sources.
Since the Allen center opened, plans for a major mall anotherexit north on U.S. 75 were abandoned.
'In Allen, the arena was the tie-breaker,' said RobertWinningham, former director of an economic development corporationset up to help finance the project. 'The hockey team came with thearena.'
Development plans north in McKinney also stalled, while stores ata mall south in Plano, moved to the arena district.
'That's competition,' said Winningham, now running for Congressin southern Indiana. 'Communities are always going to compete withone another.'
What was the difference in Allen?
'It takes a city council to be progressively minded. You've gotto kind of think outside the box,' Winning-ham said.
Will teams move?
The Dutch Lions, which already plans to move its games and youthacademy to West Carrollton, was ready to play an indoor seasonthere.
'Not only to keep our professional players with us year-round,but also to give our fans more games to watch,' Mike Moss-el, teamowner and president, said in an email. 'A new indoor location inWest Carrollton would be ideal since we want to make West Carrolltonour home, not only for our youth academy but in future years alsofor our pro teams.'
The Dayton Gems continue to invest in their current home, HaraArena. Still the team would be interested in moving to WestCarrollton, provided enough fans came to the games, team PresidentJoe Greene said.
Attendance this season has been below preseason goals.
'We continue to improve,' Greene said. 'Early in the season issometimes tough.'
Officials with the Day-ton Silverbacks football team expresseddoubts about the West Carrollton plan.
'We did the suburban thing. We were in Troy (in Miami County) forthree years,' general manager Mike Lause said. 'If I've got to paymore, I've got to get a piece of the concessions.'
Lause also questioned West Carrollton's choice of consultants.
In September, Lause said he brought Tom Che-ma, head of GatewayDevelopment, to Dayton to discuss building facilities similar tothose Che-ma developed in Cleveland and Toledo.
Lause predicted also the owners of Hara Arena, where theSilverbacks and Gems now play, would invest more in their 50-year-old facility if West Carrollton's plan came to fruition.
'I'm definitely not going to shoot it down,' Lause said. 'I'vegot to see what is going to make economic sense for my club.'
Hara officials suggested West Carrollton's plan would fail,similar to those to build an arena in Dayton and off the AustinBoulevard interchange.
'A new facility isn't always the answer,' Hara marketing directorKaren Wampler said.
Even the West Carrollton mayor acknowledged the project'suncertain future.
'It's very early on,' Sanner said. 'We have to look ateverything.'
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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