Tucson is set to move its proposed new Downtown arena to a third site, and it hopes to hire an arena architect and operator during the next two weeks.
Tommy Obermaier, interim Tucson Convention Center director, said the city is 90 percent locked in to the newest planned arena site, at the southeast corner of West Congress Street and the Interstate 10 frontage road.
He said part of the reason for the move is that the city no longer has the money to buy landowner Allan Norville's nearby property, where it previously hoped to build. In addition, Obermaier said the new site allows for the new arena and the TCC to be "bookends" for the planned commercial development in between the two.
Obermaier said the city is finalizing a deal with 360 Architecture to design the new arena, which is planned to seat 10,000 to 11,000 people and cost less than $130 million.
Kansas City, Mo.-based 360 Architecture built American Airlines Arena in Miami; Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio; the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.; and many other projects.
The deal with 360 should be completed Wednesday, he said.
Obermaier said the city is about a week away from hiring an arena operator, but he can't give the name under the city's procurement rules. In addition, he said the city may be less than two weeks away from soliciting competitive bids for a company to build the new arena.
DOWNTOWN ARENA TIMELINE
• OCTOBER 2003: Although not part of the Rio Nuevo ballot measure approved by voters, talk begins about building a new arena Downtown.
• JANUARY 2004: The City Council votes 4-3 to solicit proposals from developers for a new arena.
• AUGUST 2004: The city selects an arena development team led by Texas-based Garfield Traub.
• MARCH 2007: Downtown landowner Allan Norville unveils plans to build a Downtown arena and gem-show exhibit hall. Two days later, the city releases plans for a new arena shaped like a desert tortoise shell.
• APRIL 2007: The City Council unexpectedly approves the $130 million tortoise-shell arena with no public notice or input.
• APRIL 2008: A public-records request by the Arizona Daily Star showed costs for the tortoise arena had ballooned to $196 million.
• MAY 2008: The City Council kills the tortoise-shell arena because of the cost. It voted to negotiate with Norville to build a smaller arena on his land, but the deal is never finalized.
• FEBRUARY 2009: With no money to buy Norville's land, the city moves the arena to a third site and is set to choose the arena's architect and operator.
