http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14278701p-15087523c.html
Residents closely split over arena
Most say Arco Arena needs to be replaced, but support is divided between downtown and Natomas sites.
By Ryan Lillis -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, July 16, 2006
It was more a neighborhood conversation than a scientific survey, and many folks who shared their thoughts around town Saturday voiced support for a new arena for the Kings. It was the matter of where to build the thing and whether to tax people to pay for it that stirred disagreement.
Some say tear down Arco Arena and build a new home for the Kings in the same North Natomas location. Others consider a downtown arena to be a great step toward turning the neighborhood into a destination.
Of course, some city denizens don't much care either way, but they're about as easy to find as a downtown street without heat waves rising from it.
"We're the capital city, and everything needs to be new," said Thomas Morris, rather enthusiastically as he took a break from working in the kitchen at Fanny Ann's in Old Sacramento. "We have, like, 150 new restaurants but the same old Arco Arena. This is where it has to be; it would change this place."
Morris is a fan and said he's willing to go beyond a quarter-cent sales tax increase that could go before voters in November to help pay for the new arena.
"I'll go to 50 cents, a dollar," he said, loud enough to scare a few nearby tourists.
It's an issue with growing significance not just because it involves possible downtown development, but because it could help determine the Kings' future in Sacramento.
"They can't go," said Benji Garnett, walking in Old Sacramento with his family. The Sacramento native said he understands a downtown arena's appeal, especially "if you're into business and all that stuff."
It's assumed that businesses -- especially those within walking distance of the Union Pacific railyard, the most talked-about site for a new arena -- stand to benefit from the influx of people -- and their money -- a new arena would attract.
But some local entrepreneurs aren't so sure.
"If you think they have a big mess now, wait until all that traffic arrives," said Marilyn Ritchey, who has been driving one of the horse-drawn carriages in Old Sacramento for longer than she cares to remember.
"It isn't going to help us here. I find people who come to sporting events, they come by, walk through and walk out. They're not here for the history or to shop. They're just curious."
Besides, Ritchey said, more people mean more cars. And that means more things for her horse, Ben, to dodge.
Those same concerns -- minus the horse -- echoed inside a mini-mart on the corner of L and Eighth streets, where Pete Moore offered this bit of wisdom:
"The traffic would be so bad that no one would come down here. You already have too many people here. It's already overpopulated."
As for concerns that the Kings might head out of town if a new home isn't built?
"Let them go; I'll call their bluff," Moore said, ignoring the fact that the Kings' owners, the Maloof family, have a few things going on in Las Vegas.
Two friends sitting across from each other at a table inside Westfield Downtown Plaza illustrated the division among Sacramentans about the arena business.
Jim Martin, who moved here from Los Angeles last fall, saw how the Staples Center helped pump life into downtown Los Angeles when it opened in 1999 and is on board for the same in Sacramento.
But his friend, Glen Arruda, said any tax increase would "make it hard on people who are already having a hard time now," and he said he would rather see the money spent on affordable housing downtown.
"As far as I'm concerned," Martin countered, "it would bring a lot of money into the city."
Tyrone Somerville hears these conversations all day.
A self-described "street guy" who has spent most of the past three years living in and walking throughout downtown, Somerville might have a well-informed perspective on the issue.
"I hear them talking all day, and the folks seem to want a new arena," he said. "They want it so we have a city spirit."
About the writer: The Bee's Ryan Lillis can be reached at (916) 321-1085 or rlillis@sacbee.com.
Residents closely split over arena
Most say Arco Arena needs to be replaced, but support is divided between downtown and Natomas sites.
By Ryan Lillis -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, July 16, 2006
It was more a neighborhood conversation than a scientific survey, and many folks who shared their thoughts around town Saturday voiced support for a new arena for the Kings. It was the matter of where to build the thing and whether to tax people to pay for it that stirred disagreement.
Some say tear down Arco Arena and build a new home for the Kings in the same North Natomas location. Others consider a downtown arena to be a great step toward turning the neighborhood into a destination.
Of course, some city denizens don't much care either way, but they're about as easy to find as a downtown street without heat waves rising from it.
"We're the capital city, and everything needs to be new," said Thomas Morris, rather enthusiastically as he took a break from working in the kitchen at Fanny Ann's in Old Sacramento. "We have, like, 150 new restaurants but the same old Arco Arena. This is where it has to be; it would change this place."
Morris is a fan and said he's willing to go beyond a quarter-cent sales tax increase that could go before voters in November to help pay for the new arena.
"I'll go to 50 cents, a dollar," he said, loud enough to scare a few nearby tourists.
It's an issue with growing significance not just because it involves possible downtown development, but because it could help determine the Kings' future in Sacramento.
"They can't go," said Benji Garnett, walking in Old Sacramento with his family. The Sacramento native said he understands a downtown arena's appeal, especially "if you're into business and all that stuff."
It's assumed that businesses -- especially those within walking distance of the Union Pacific railyard, the most talked-about site for a new arena -- stand to benefit from the influx of people -- and their money -- a new arena would attract.
But some local entrepreneurs aren't so sure.
"If you think they have a big mess now, wait until all that traffic arrives," said Marilyn Ritchey, who has been driving one of the horse-drawn carriages in Old Sacramento for longer than she cares to remember.
"It isn't going to help us here. I find people who come to sporting events, they come by, walk through and walk out. They're not here for the history or to shop. They're just curious."
Besides, Ritchey said, more people mean more cars. And that means more things for her horse, Ben, to dodge.
Those same concerns -- minus the horse -- echoed inside a mini-mart on the corner of L and Eighth streets, where Pete Moore offered this bit of wisdom:
"The traffic would be so bad that no one would come down here. You already have too many people here. It's already overpopulated."
As for concerns that the Kings might head out of town if a new home isn't built?
"Let them go; I'll call their bluff," Moore said, ignoring the fact that the Kings' owners, the Maloof family, have a few things going on in Las Vegas.
Two friends sitting across from each other at a table inside Westfield Downtown Plaza illustrated the division among Sacramentans about the arena business.
Jim Martin, who moved here from Los Angeles last fall, saw how the Staples Center helped pump life into downtown Los Angeles when it opened in 1999 and is on board for the same in Sacramento.
But his friend, Glen Arruda, said any tax increase would "make it hard on people who are already having a hard time now," and he said he would rather see the money spent on affordable housing downtown.
"As far as I'm concerned," Martin countered, "it would bring a lot of money into the city."
Tyrone Somerville hears these conversations all day.
A self-described "street guy" who has spent most of the past three years living in and walking throughout downtown, Somerville might have a well-informed perspective on the issue.
"I hear them talking all day, and the folks seem to want a new arena," he said. "They want it so we have a city spirit."
About the writer: The Bee's Ryan Lillis can be reached at (916) 321-1085 or rlillis@sacbee.com.
