PENS GETTING NEW ARENA!

[solarte1969]

according to KDKA...

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH After all the uncertainty, and the back and forth discussion over whether the Pittsburgh Penguins would stay here or possibly leave town, the long wait could finally over.

KDKA sources confirm that the new arena deal is done.

KDKA’s Bob Pompeani reports that the city, the state, and the Penguins have all come to an agreement over how to build and pay for a new arena.

And that means the Pens will stay right here in Pittsburgh.

Pompeani reports that an official announcement is expected before tomorrow night's home game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Last week's meeting in Philadelphia lasted more than four hours and produced significant progress on the framework for a new multi-purpose arena. Some bigger stumbling blocks were finance rates on an extra $20 million added as a contingency to a proposed arena bond issue.

Sources tell Pompeani that the overall price tag will be higher than the original $290 million that was first discussed.

The Penguins have agreed to put up four million a year toward a new building. They also have agreed to put up $500,000 a year for a new parking garage in the arena complex.

While the recent appeals of the casino license awarded to Don Barden were of concern to the Penguins, Thursday's meeting in Philadelphia seemed to soften their concerns, and paved the way for this agreement, which will keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.

There is still a meeting scheduled for this Wednesday to fully finish the deal.

[Playa]

WHOOOOOOOO fuckin HOOOOOOOOOO!

[Wonder Woman]

WHOOOOOOOO fuckin HOOOOOOOOOO!



Doobie Doobie Doo...
We celebrate tonight. :newsmile39:

[Southern_Yankee]

Thank God they legalized gambling :bowdown:

[Sir Osis]

Thank God they legalized gambling :bowdown:

Why, did you make a bet on the Pinguins staying?

[Southern_Yankee]

Why, did you make a bet on the Pinguins staying?

nope...

HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell today credited the anticipated revenue from Pennsylvania's new casinos for keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Rendell spoke this morning at a Spectrum Gaming Group conference in Harrisburg about gaming in Pennsylvania.

"This afternoon I am traveling to Pittsburgh, where we will announce that all three government entities (state, county, city) have agreed to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the next 30 years. We will build a beautiful new arena.

"Make no mistake about it -- without expanded gaming in Pennsylvania, the Penguins would be gone. The first puck would have been dropped next year in Kansas City."

Kansas City has an almost-finished new arena and has been seeking a hockey team.

The new Pittsburgh arena will be financed by a bond issue with annual debt service payments of $21 million. Of that, $15 million a year will come from gaming, he said, $7.5 million from slots license winner Don Barden and another $7.5 million from a new entertainment fund paid for with gaming dollars.

"If you don't like gaming, understand that we would have lost a very important institution for Pittsburgh. The Penguins would have been gone," Mr. Rendell said.

"There is no way that the county executive or the mayor would have used taxpayers' money to build the arena. There are limits to what the state could do. Nowhere close to a $15 million commitment from the state would have been possible without gaming."

Sources told the Post-Gazette last night that remaining details of the deal had been worked out over the weekend and the formal announcement would be made before tonight's hockey game.

[gridfaniker]

kansas city should focus on one of the suthren teams that only draw fans when they're winning. of course, KC will be a suthren team that only draws fans when it's winning.

[sds70]

http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/PittsburghPenguins/new.jpg

New Penguins Arena-Opening in Fall 2009

Opppppssss, I guess I was wrong . . . . I guess 3 days of intense negotiations in Philly this past weekend was able to get all the remaining issues solved. Funny, how a nearly bankrupt city can find the money to build a new arena :D :D !!!!!!!!!

So, which team is next on the clock to move? Islanders? Predators?

============

Jubilant Penguins, public officials detail arena pact

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Penguins owners and public officials today jubilantly discussed the details of their long-sought agreement for a new arena in Pittsburgh.

At a news conference at the Sen. John Heinz Regional History Center in the Strip District, Gov. Ed Rendell made the formal announcement of the 30-year agreement. He noted that he and local officials had come up with a Plan B for funding in case the Penguins' partner, Isle of Capri, did not win a casino license for Pittsburgh. Isle of Capri had pledged to build an arena for the team, but it did not win the license.

Mr. Rendell said Plan B had been changed because of competition from Kansas City, which has a nearly finished arena and was wooing the Penguins.

The team will no longer have to pay $8.5 million up front. Instead, the state will pay $10.5 million from public development funds.

In addition, the team will only have to commit $2.2 million of its own in annual lease payments, a reduction, but will have to make up the difference by seeking $2 million in naming rights, an increase. Overall, however, the $4.2 million per year team commitment is a $200,000 increase over the figures spelled out in the original Plan B.

Mr. Rendell said public officials agreed with the team that the previous $270 million construction cost estimate might be too low, and the funding calculations were increased to consider a $290 million pricetag.

The team and the state will split the costs of any increase in construction cost between $290 million and $310 million. The team will cover any cost overrun above $310 million.

The governor said Kansas City had offered a great deal to the team. But what "tipped the balance" toward Pittsburgh was the strong support of the local fans.

And once again, Mr. Rendell said the deal could not have been done without the revenue expected from new slots casinos.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato noted the region is also getting a multi-purpose facility for concerts and other entertainment.

He said the Penguins have been offered a $15 million credit as incentive to spur development around the arena, rather than leaving it as parking. He said officials have set a goal of developing 2.8 acres a year, with the whole area developed in 10 years. The Penguins would lose development rights to areas they don't complete each year.

PITG Gaming, the winning bidder for the city's slots casino, could be given a chance to get involved in development, and Hill District officials will be consulted about what they would like to see next to their neighborhood.

Mr. Onorato said officials have received a pledge from unions for a labor stabilization agreement.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also emphasized that Hill District leaders would be involved in development around the site.

Team owner Mario Lemieux said the goal had always been to keep the team in Pittsburgh. He thanked Mr. Rendell, even though he noted the two had not always agreed.

Mr. Lemieux also cited National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman for his input into the negotiations.

Sources last night told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that an agreement had been reached over the weekend following a "very productive" meeting Thursday that broke an impasse in the talks. Mr. Bettman had sat in on those talks in Philadelphia.

Mr. Onorato and Mr. Ravenstahl said today the deal would require no local tax dollars. And Mr. Rendell credited the state's new slots casinos for providing much of the needed funding.

PITG will contribute $7.5 million a year from its revenues, and the state will kick in another $7.5 million a year from its share of the pot.

Mr. Rendell said today that the state's contribution from the casino revenue will not take away from the casino funds designated for property tax relief. He said a separate pot of casino revenue has been set up for economic development and he designated some of that for the arena.

The arena is expected to be ready for the Penguins during the 2009-10 season, and the deal is designed to keep the team in Pittsburgh for 30 years. The current lease for the Mellon Arena expires in June.

Team owners had visited Kansas City, which has a new arena but no hockey team, and Las Vegas, which has neither. But officials had said from the beginning that their preference was to stay in Pittsburgh, where there is an established fan base.