The Mohegan Sun Arena packs in thousands for hockey
games, concerts and other events, and its construction spurred the development
of retail stores, restaurants and hotels in the surrounding area.
But one desired effect – that the arena and other “amenities”
would attract high-value employers to the area – remains unrealized 15 years
after the arena opened.
The arena was controversial from the start. Especially
contentious was whether public money or bond guarantees would be used to fund
the roughly $44 million construction cost.
After voters in 1995 narrowly rejected a plan to
partially finance construction with $22 million in county guaranteed bonds,
arena backers put together a combination of $20 million in bonds backed by
First Union Bank and money from other sources to supplement a $19.2 million
state grant.
The bonds were guaranteed, in part, by proceeds of a
dedicated 5 percent tax on hotel guests.
Part of the sales pitch in the years leading up to the
arena’s construction was that it would add to the area’s quality of life,
believed to be a key factor in attracting new businesses to the region,
particularly those that would relocate top managers or required professional
employees.
“I think it (failing to build the arena) would be
devastating from the standpoint of this community. Having these types of
amenities helps us tremendously,” said Steve Barrouk as president of the
Greater Wilkes-Barre Partnership in 1995.
Major companies pass up locating in Luzerne County
because the county does not have amenities like Lackawanna County’s Montage
Mountain, Gary Lamont, a member of the convention center authority board, said
in September 1994.
Big name corporations like Home Depot, Neiman Marcus and
Men’s Wearhouse have come to the region since the arena opened in November
1999, lured by low land and labor costs to open warehouses. But executive
positions and other high-paying jobs have been slow to materialize.
Meanwhile, the region’s overall economic condition –
measured by unemployment and wages – is arguably worse today. At 6.7 percent,
the region’s unemployment rate was the highest among Pennsylvania’s large
markets in September, the 54th consecutive month with that undesirable
distinction. Average wages lag national levels by 15 percent; as much as twice
that in jobs requiring advanced skills, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Clarifying
comments
Interviewed last week, Barrouk said comments like his
were misinterpreted to infer the arena alone would attract major businesses.
“We knew that building an arena isn’t a sole factor in
relocating a company here,” he said.
Large economic disruptions in the intervening years – the
bursting dot.com bubble, the 911 attacks and a deep recession – slowed business
expansion nearly everywhere, said Teri Ooms, executive director of The
Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development at Wilkes University.
“The economy’s been a challenge; there has not been
strong business relocation or expansion anywhere,” she said.
Still, over those years the arena project, which included
more than just a building, sparked development of what had been an unsightly
abandoned strip mining pit.
“Almost 500 acres of wasteland has become high-end
commercial properties,” Barrouk said. “I’d say for the most part it turned out
exactly as we had in mind.”
Project spurred
growth
Robert Tamburro, trustee and general partner with TFP
Limited Development in Plains Township, thinks the arena improves the region’s
image with outsiders and boosts residents’ morale.
“I think without a doubt it’s added to the quality of
life in this region,” he said. He thinks it’s unfair to expect one factor like
the arena to change the fortunes of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“We have a lot of challenges economically, but I think
there are a lot of economic challenges everywhere,” he said. “If you’re able to
have something like this, it makes your community a better place.”
The arena, it turned out, was not an end in itself, but
the catalyst for a boom in retail, restaurant and hotel businesses on barren
abandoned surface mine pits and piles of coal waste.
“I think the economic impact has been wonderful,” said
Kevin Blaum, former state representative and vice chairman of the first county
convention center authority. “All of that development certainly made this area
more attractive.”
But he acknowledges, “I don’t think anybody comes because
you have an arena.”
The once-controversial project included a new exit from
Interstate 81 that gives arena patrons quick and easy access, and connects to
Highland Park Boulevard, which was built as part of the overall plan.
Opinions differ on whether the exit would have been built
anyway – “without the arena there’s no reason to build an exit,” Blaum contends
– but it led to an explosion of construction nearby.
“It allowed us to develop that whole tract of land,”
Blaum said, a process that started soon after the exit opened with construction
of a Hilton Garden Inn hotel in 2002.
Hotels, retail
followed
Development continued at a furious pace over the next few
years, as a Walmart and 20 other storefronts, eight free-standing restaurants,
four hotels and two office buildings sprung up within sight of the arena.
Tamburro said another tie-in, reconstruction of Mundy
Street, made it possible to successfully build stores and restaurants on the
southern side of the street, across from the Wyoming Valley Mall. His company’s
Arena Hub Plaza opened there just before the arena.
“It was really raw, hard property,” Tamburro said. “The
arena in and of itself wasn’t what promoted the retailers and the food.”
Danielle Deshaine, director of sales at the Courtyard by
Marriott hotel that opened July 31, said a feasibility study conducted to
assess the location showed there would be sufficient demand for the 106 rooms,
much of it from companies in area business and industrial parks moving personnel
in and out for training and other purposes.
“There is a smaller demand from the arena itself, and the
Penguins,” she said.
“The arena definitely helps in the slow season” of fall
and winter, when leisure and business travel drops, Deshaine said. Guests
include families of players, scouts and fans, particularly from opposing teams,
who are more likely to stay over after a game.
Better off
downtown?
Dennis Donovan, principal at WDG Consulting, a New Jersey
relocation specialist, believes the arena offers real benefits to the region.
“I think overall this has been good for Wilkes-Barre,” he
said.
But in the last 10 years or so, the emphasis has been on
improving downtowns.
“Particularly arenas or sports stadiums that are downtown
work the best” as part of a comprehensive revitalization strategy, Donovan
said. “You will start to see business start-ups,” because young entrepreneurs
want to be downtown. “Having as much of this downtown as possible is really
important.”
Gus Genetti, owner of Genetti’s Best Western on East
Market Street, agrees.
“I always thought strongly the arena should have been
placed downtown,” he said. The exit still would have been needed and by itself
would have sparked growth in the Highland Park area, he believes.
Barrouk said a downtown location was considered, but
shelved. “There just wasn’t enough land,” he said. “And the parking structures
would have cost as much as the arena.”
Genetti said he gets a small amount of business from the
arena, some patrons and fans, as well as support staff for events, who may stay
several nights. More of his business comes as a result of his hotel’s location
next to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts.
Amenities’
attraction
Community assets aren’t important only to managers
looking to move a company, they matter to potential employees.
The arena is one of several features that Steven Pierdon,
until recently executive vice president and chief medical officer for Geisinger
Northeast, mentioned to candidates for new positions in the region. Others are
the minor league baseball and hockey teams, recreation opportunities,
improvements in downtown Wilkes-Barre and educational institutions.
“Quality of life is something that’s very important,
especially for young professionals just coming out of training,” he said.
Being able to show employees and their families that the
area is vibrant and growing has helped Geisinger attract more than 80
physicians in the past two years, Pierdon said, with another 40 coming on board
this year.
He’s hopeful that as the economy mends, business
executives seeking to expand or relocate also will see the arena and other
amenities as signs the region is a viable option for their companies and
employees.
• Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza is owned by the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority, a government body appointed by Luzerne County. It’s managed by SMG, a leader in entertainment and sports facilities management with catering and concessions services provided by SAVOR¡ at Mohegan Sun Arena.
• The arena opened on Nov. 13, 1999, when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League made their debut.
• Originally called the Northeastern Pennsylvania Civic Arena, the facility became First Union Arena at Casey Plaza when First Union bank purchased the naming rights. The name changed to Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in 2002 after a corporate merger. In January of 2010, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs purchased the naming rights, and changed the venue name to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
• The arena’s primary tenants are the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League, affiliated with the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
• With more than 8,000 permanent seats and a capacity of nearly 10,000 for concerts, the arena has played host to some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Elton John, Cher, Neil Diamond, Janet Jackson, The Eagles, AC/DC and Simon & Garfunkel.
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Source: Timesleader.com
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