A few months after a recommendation from the Urban Land Institute to develop an existing and possibly outdated sports and entertainment arena in downtown Hartford, now known as the XL Center, Mayor Eddie Perez offered up last week a new report (PDF) from consultant HOK Sport that recommends razing the old center and building a new one at a possible price tag of $400 million.

An article in the Courant today by Jeffrey Cohen reported:

The future of the center has been a hot-button issue since 2005, when the arena’s steward, the Connecticut Development Authority, decided to study its options. In the process, the authority’s consultants—which included the consultants hired by the city—told it that the center was outdated, too small and not right for major league professional sports.

In contrast, Perez’s study wasn’t as much focused on the health of the center as it was on the feasibility of building a new arena downtown. That study said that the Hartford area has the right demographic mix to support major league professional sports and a new arena.

But its corporate support is uncertain, and an “NHL franchise may struggle to generate sufficient revenues from the corporate sector.”

The article also notes that, as promised in his inaugural address, Perez is “assembling a task force that will gauge whether there is enough corporate support to pay for suites, seats, and advertising to make such a venture worthwhile.”

Hartford’s acting director of development services, Mark McGovern, told Cohen that the report was the first step in a long process, indicating only that the new arena potential is “not out of the question.”

In contrast, last September, visiting ULI panelist Jennifer Ball said, “The time has come to set aside the notion of a big idea, one-of-a-kind, or similar redevelopment project in the area.”

“The panel recommends that a commitment be made to right-size, reconfigure and modernize the existing civic center,” she continued. “The enhanced venue seems very likely to attract new events that will expand the existing performance opportunities, add more busy nights to the calendar, and will continue to attract people and their money to the center city.” She also said the panel’s view was that “a new venue will not easily be financed.”

A baseball stadium was possibly the chimera of the decade in Springfield at one time, under the auspices of former Mayor Michael Albano. I’m dubious about notions that major league professional sports are what the economy needs in a city this size, even if it is undergoing an ostensible renaissance, especially when a disinvested panel of experts recommends against wiping the site clean and starting over with a massive infusion of required cash. Recommendations and studies coming from entities that may potentially benefit from later decisions are harder to trust.

Hartford as home to a major league professional sports team is possibly an attractive idea to some, and is understandably very alluring to a political leader looking to work with a prominent developer, the owner of Hartford 21 next door, and now the manager of the XL Center.

A January 9 editorial in the Courant criticized Mayor Perez, advising him to “think small” in response to his inaugural speech and chastising him for not following the “wise advice” of the ULI, which said to steer clear of “silver bullet” projects. From the piece:

In his address, the mayor said when the state turns the existing building over to the city in 2013, the choices are to invest in a new building or have the present facility “face the same fate as the now demolished New Haven Coliseum.”

Not necessarily. The New Haven arena was not modernized, but allowed to deteriorate. It had minor league hockey over the years, but did not have the major draw of UConn basketball. Interestingly, New Haven has the most vibrant downtown of any of the state’s large cities without a sports arena.

We don’t mean to suggest a new arena would be a bad thing; it wouldn’t. But as studies have shown, arenas are not particularly good economic engines. Unless the city had a commitment from a major league hockey or basketball team, or a private donor with deep pockets, what public money is available ought to go toward smaller projects—such as ones Mr. Perez talked about in another part of his speech.

Two days later, the paper ran a letter to the editor by Chris Gay of Manchester, titled, “Hartford Needs to Think Big.” Mayor Perez’s office was pleased enough with the letter that it makes it available (PDF) from the city’s official Web page. In it, Gay cites the editorial as “the same tired thinking that helps Hartford maintain its perpetual lapdog status to Boston, New York and even Providence.” From the letter:

There’s something to be said for civic pride, which is significantly lacking in our great New England city. Does The Courant believe Rentschler Field to have been an unsuccessful venture? Hasn’t it help put Hartford on the national stage in just a few short years? Honestly, it’s a wonder it ever got built.

If we are ever to drag ourselves out of everybody else’s shadow, we need the vision to think big. Mayor Perez deserves major kudos for showcasing that vision. For decades, ideas have been put forth only to fall by the wayside. Hartford should be exploiting its rich historical past, and start beginning to tie that past in with some exciting, tangible projects.

A city can, over time, completely exhaust its resources with “exciting, tangible projects.” Such efforts do not necessarily yield growth—they can instead run the risk of yielding only the sensation of growth.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm and is filed under City corridors, Demographics, Development, Downtown, Hartford, Public spaces, Quality of life, Studies and reports, Urban Compass, Urban Land Institute, Urban design.