Link
Voisin: New arena would contribute to the city's progress
By Ailene Voisin
avoisin@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 5C
Can this Cal Expo master plan – this almost blindingly brilliant vision – ever become a reality? Can the Maloofs sit still long enough to find out? Can John Moag and David Stern find the developer to move mountains on the flat lands near the river?
I don't know.
I don't understand high finance.
But I dread the thought of having to drive to Oakland or San Francisco to attend NBA games or hear the Foo Fighters at a venue with decent acoustics. Arco "Echo" Arena causes headaches and damages eardrums, and I'm not just referring to those obnoxious fan prompts at Kings games.
It's time to bang the drum, urgently and aggressively. It's time to grow up, to dream a little – no, to dream a lot. After 15 years of murmurings about the very real need for a modern arena/entertainment complex – dating to former Kings owner Jim Thomas – this community has progressed too far to choke under pressure, even in horrific economic times.
Six months ago, most of us thought the clouds were clearing. Now it feels as if the sky is falling. And, in fact, after listening to hours of mind-numbing testimony from architects, politicians and economists Friday, I walked out of the Turf Club thinking everyone was crazy. And that crazy was good.
You know what they say about the commingling of insanity and creativity. You just never know.
Twenty-five years ago, I laughed when a colleague insisted that Sacramento would land an NBA franchise.
Two years later, I covered the first regular-season game at Arco and was forced to eat a hearty sampling of crow. I got lost that night driving back to the hotel where the teams stayed. Near Arden Fair. I complained about the inactivity downtown. Nothing happening. I complained about the lack of late-night dining. Starved after 9 p.m.
But I returned in the mid-1990s and was amazed by the transformation. New hotels downtown. A choice of restaurants. Development along the river. Blocks and blocks of stylish homes and tree-lined neighborhoods, discovered only because of the emerging, vibrant urban core. I said, "I could live here," never thinking I would.
No, you never know.
Though the architects, economists and politicians dominated the meeting, what struck closest to home – what really resonated – were the words of local residents who have lived here a lot longer than many of us. A few of these folks would be called old-timers. A few could be characterized as visionaries.
A retired theater arts instructor from American River College mentioned that he had been the first African American general manager of a ballet company (Oakland). He reminded everyone that – oh, by the way – any future arena would be home to the only local pro basketball team with a championship ring.
Jimmy Lyons of the prominent advertising family spoke about the capacity of Sacramento "to do big things. We want to do this. We CAN do this." Developer Mark Friedman welcomed the NBA to his neighborhood. Muriel Johnson, former county supervisor and director of the California Arts Council, crooned about classical music.
"Our old arena has served us well," she said. "It has been the (site) of stunning performances … by Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, and Kobe and Shaq, and LeBron and Kevin Johnson … I would not have seen Pavarotti, the great thrill of my life, or Sarah Brightman. But also for Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner. I do believe in hard times that we need the arts. We need sports. We need entertainment. These are the things that make life worth living. It's important for this arena to go forward. The Kings, frankly, we need 'em, and we need the cooperation of an avid community."
All that brainpower. Here.
All those green thumbs. Here.
All the reasons for this community to ride Stern's wave, recognize the Maloofs as the partners-in-hand, and turn over every rock, every stone, every boulder, and convince some wild and crazy guy to construct an environmental and artistic urban masterpiece at Cal Expo.
Keep the pressure on. On Stern. On Moag. On Joe and Gavin Maloof. On us.
Voisin: New arena would contribute to the city's progress
By Ailene Voisin
avoisin@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 5C
Can this Cal Expo master plan – this almost blindingly brilliant vision – ever become a reality? Can the Maloofs sit still long enough to find out? Can John Moag and David Stern find the developer to move mountains on the flat lands near the river?
I don't know.
I don't understand high finance.
But I dread the thought of having to drive to Oakland or San Francisco to attend NBA games or hear the Foo Fighters at a venue with decent acoustics. Arco "Echo" Arena causes headaches and damages eardrums, and I'm not just referring to those obnoxious fan prompts at Kings games.
It's time to bang the drum, urgently and aggressively. It's time to grow up, to dream a little – no, to dream a lot. After 15 years of murmurings about the very real need for a modern arena/entertainment complex – dating to former Kings owner Jim Thomas – this community has progressed too far to choke under pressure, even in horrific economic times.
Six months ago, most of us thought the clouds were clearing. Now it feels as if the sky is falling. And, in fact, after listening to hours of mind-numbing testimony from architects, politicians and economists Friday, I walked out of the Turf Club thinking everyone was crazy. And that crazy was good.
You know what they say about the commingling of insanity and creativity. You just never know.
Twenty-five years ago, I laughed when a colleague insisted that Sacramento would land an NBA franchise.
Two years later, I covered the first regular-season game at Arco and was forced to eat a hearty sampling of crow. I got lost that night driving back to the hotel where the teams stayed. Near Arden Fair. I complained about the inactivity downtown. Nothing happening. I complained about the lack of late-night dining. Starved after 9 p.m.
But I returned in the mid-1990s and was amazed by the transformation. New hotels downtown. A choice of restaurants. Development along the river. Blocks and blocks of stylish homes and tree-lined neighborhoods, discovered only because of the emerging, vibrant urban core. I said, "I could live here," never thinking I would.
No, you never know.
Though the architects, economists and politicians dominated the meeting, what struck closest to home – what really resonated – were the words of local residents who have lived here a lot longer than many of us. A few of these folks would be called old-timers. A few could be characterized as visionaries.
A retired theater arts instructor from American River College mentioned that he had been the first African American general manager of a ballet company (Oakland). He reminded everyone that – oh, by the way – any future arena would be home to the only local pro basketball team with a championship ring.
Jimmy Lyons of the prominent advertising family spoke about the capacity of Sacramento "to do big things. We want to do this. We CAN do this." Developer Mark Friedman welcomed the NBA to his neighborhood. Muriel Johnson, former county supervisor and director of the California Arts Council, crooned about classical music.
"Our old arena has served us well," she said. "It has been the (site) of stunning performances … by Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, and Kobe and Shaq, and LeBron and Kevin Johnson … I would not have seen Pavarotti, the great thrill of my life, or Sarah Brightman. But also for Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner. I do believe in hard times that we need the arts. We need sports. We need entertainment. These are the things that make life worth living. It's important for this arena to go forward. The Kings, frankly, we need 'em, and we need the cooperation of an avid community."
All that brainpower. Here.
All those green thumbs. Here.
All the reasons for this community to ride Stern's wave, recognize the Maloofs as the partners-in-hand, and turn over every rock, every stone, every boulder, and convince some wild and crazy guy to construct an environmental and artistic urban masterpiece at Cal Expo.
Keep the pressure on. On Stern. On Moag. On Joe and Gavin Maloof. On us.