>According to todays Bangor Daily News, plans are progressing toward building
>a 7,500 seat arena in downtown Bangor...
>
>http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.cfm/ID/401312/cfid/5688503/cfto
> en/89900732

That's an I'll believe it when I see it project, IMHO.  Bangor can't do
it ($40M) without state support ...  and try to squeeze such a project
out of the state in the next few years!  Bangor voters won't go for it
either, IMHO.

Such an ice surface is a huge capital and operational expense.  I don't
see how they're going to keep it busy, or even afloat.  :-(

I do believe there will be a convention center built.  I'd like to see
that and a major hotel as anchor to the waterfront development ...  but
that project has been stalled for a couple of years now.

Really old folks (like me) remember when the Bangor Auditorium had an
ice surface!  :-)

>Which Alfond events could be shifted to this arena ?  Certainly not matches
>like the out-of-conference games next year against the Little Sisters of the
>Poor, but certainly you could punch out the extra seats for games against
>the Univ. of Nocturnal Hijinx

With the improvements to the Alfond and extra costs of staging an event
off-campus and likelihood of poor student turnout, I can't see the
University using a Bangor Arena any more than they now use CCCC!

>I fear the Alfond skybox revenue stream might be impaired by the new arena
>marketing their luxury boxes to the same clients as now occupy the Alfond
>heights.  Not enough deep-pocket firms in greater Bangor I think could
>afford two sets of these, and the ticket revenue from only 2,000 +/- extra
>seats in a new Bangor venue might not be enough to compensate for Alfond losses

Guess I see the Arena as primarily a performance (music, etc.) venue and
not a competitor to Alfond (except for perhaps high school hockey
tournaments and the like.

cheers, wayne