Culled From today's gazette telegraph online edition
This apparently will be the new venue for the Colorado College Tigers
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[INLINE]
Community leaders line up with shovels ready at the
groundbreaking ceremony Saturday for the $41.8 million Colorado
Springs World Arena. The 8,000-seat arena is expected to open
in January 1998. Photo by Mary Kelley/Gazette Telegraph
NEW ERA BEGINS WITH WORLD ARENA GROUNDBREAKING
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By Kelly Pearce
To some, the Colorado Springs World Arena will be a welcome neighbor.
To others, it will be a place close to home for concerts and sporting
events. For many, it will be a symbol of community pride.
On Saturday, about 100 people gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking
of the $41.8 million arena -- an event marked with balloons, food,
speeches and a parachute jump.
Timothy Goettel, 38, craned his neck and squinted his eyes to catch a
glimpse of four Green Berets from Fort Carson as they sailed through
the air and landed ever so lightly in his "back yard."
"To have something like this will help put roots in this part of
town," said Goettel, pastor of the 150-member Stratmoor Hills United
Methodist Church. "This end of town is very transient. The World Arena
is an exciting neighbor for our little church."
On Saturday, those credited with getting the 8,000-seat arena project
off the ground proudly grabbed shovels and sank them into a patch of
dirt on the 55-acre site. They stood in a row while photographers
snapped their pictures.
Construction officially will get under way Monday; the arena will open
in January 1998.
"It's one of the greatest accomplishments in Colorado Springs in the
1990s," said Bill Hybl, chairman and chief executive officer of the El
Pomar Foundation, a major contributor to the arena.
Mayor Robert Isaac compared the World Arena to the new Colorado
Springs Airport. Both, he said, were scrutinized throughout their
development.
If the airport is any example, the World Arena will get the respect it
deserves when people step into it for the first time, he said.
"One day, the quality of life will be enhanced, the criticism will be
muted and the volunteers will be vindicated," Isaac told the crowd.
When Lauren Susemihl thinks of the arena, she thinks of the musicians
that'll who will be coming to town.
"It will be great to get concerts here," said the 15-year-old whose
father, Peter Susemihl, is chairman of the World Arena project.
Who would she most like to see perform in the new venue? The Steve
Miller Band.
Others were dreaming of hockey. Colorado College hockey.
"Some of our players were recruited so they could play here," said Don
Wilson, the school's vice president for development and college
relations. "This is a huge boost for our program. This gives the team
the exposure it needs."
The Vise family is looking forward to the arena's completion for
another reason: 8-year-old Brittany and 10-year-old Tiffany are avid
ice skaters.
The girls were inside the adjacent Ice Hall during the Saturday's
groundbreaking, participating in a U.S. Figure Skating regional
training camp.
"We're so excited about the arena," said Terry Vise, the girls'
mother. "We'll be able to do big shows now."
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A Service of the Gazette Telegraph, Hosted by U S A . N E T. Copyright
) 1995-1996 The Gazette Telegraph
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charlie shub University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
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