<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Orlando Magic executives are lobbying elected leaders to help build a new arena that would more than double its current size and finally allow it to compete for premier concert and sporting events. The Magic, stymied in their attempt to get a new home court five years ago, are now quietly talking up the benefits for Orlando of modeling an arena after FedEx Forum, the 2-year-old home of the Memphis Grizzlies. The cost: an estimated $350 million to $395 million. "A modern facility would be able to address the needs of every type of event we as a community want to attract," Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins said. "These facilities can help as economic engines." On Sept. 12, Magic executives and representatives of the city, which owns the 17-year-old TD Waterhouse Centre, are slated to lay out plans for a new arena more than twice the size of the current facility -- and ask for tax dollars to accompany a "significant" contribution from the team. Executives wouldn't be more specific about their contribution. Like their aborted push in 2001, the NBA team's biggest hurdle likely will be sticker shock. The last time around, Magic owner Rich DeVos pegged the cost of a new arena at $250 million. That's also how much Memphis' FedEx Forum cost when it opened in 2004. But rapidly rising building and labor costs mean the price tag would add at least $100 million to its cost if construction starts by 2008, Martins said. Even at $250 million, public opinion turned elected officials against a new arena in 2001. At that time, the Magic offered to contribute $10.5 million in cash. Eventually, team officials settled for renovating the TD Waterhouse Centre, which opened in 1989. That project seemed destined for approval until the 2001 terrorist attacks caused a downward spiral in Central Florida's economy and hotel-tax revenues. Now the arena is one of three projects Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is pushing, including a downtown performing-arts center and a renovated Citrus Bowl. Together, those venues could top $1 billion, and Dyer is seeking the lion's share from resort taxes levied on hotel rooms. As before, the Magic want an arena with more space and moneymaking amenities. The TD Waterhouse Centre was the last of a smaller design for NBA arenas, and those built in the 1990s and 2000s, such as Houston's Toyota Center or Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, have more than twice the space Orlando's facility has at 367,000 square feet. More room would allow additional luxury suites. Orlando now has 26 near the roofline; newer arenas typically have several times that amount closer to the court, which sell for a premium. Many new arenas also have pricey loge seats, where fans can watch personal flat-panel monitors and order food and drinks from their seats using computer keypads. There also would be room for several concourses, along with restaurants, bars, concession stands and merchandise sales. City officials say the current arena's long lines and fewer "points of sale" discourage fans from buying; the city sometimes makes more money from concession sales when fewer people are in attendance. FedEx Forum boasts several restaurants, from the Jack Daniel's sports bar to the Lexus Lounge, which has a backstage view of the hallway between the locker rooms and the court and is open only to premium-ticket holders. Those types of amenities mean more money for the Magic, a team that still loses money, though it won't say how much. But building a larger arena also would benefit the city, the Magic say. It would provide more backstage space that most touring events now demand, including concerts, college basketball conference championships, hockey championships and figure skating. The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa is hosting several college tournaments in coming years for which Orlando no longer competes, team executives said. But public debate is likely to center on a new facility's cost. Longtime Magic fan Mark Smith said the Magic should "chip in some, but not all" of the cost. He said hotel taxes should be spent on more than the convention center, which mostly benefits nearby hotels. "If it can't be used for schools, then why not promote something for the whole community?" said Smith, 27, a Realtor living in College Park.</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GatorsowntheNCAA:</div><div class="quote_post">Good, hopefully they stay in Orlando for a long time to come.</div> Yeah I remember when everyone was saying we were moving to Kansas City or Oklahoma City when the Hornets left. I would hate that so much.
