News
STADIUM RUNNERS-UP SPEAK UP
April 10, 2012
| Who's game for a pro stadium in their backyard? (To misquote Field of Dreams: "If Chris Hansen builds it, even the Mariners will come.") Still, should the Sodo location prove untenable, it appears Renton and Bellevue wouldn't mind having their own NBA/NHL teams. |
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| Before the Sonics's move to Oklahoma City, there was a moment when it looked like the team would simply be transferring to Renton. And if Chris Hansen came calling today, Renton planning director Chip Vincent wouldn't mind a bit. "I'm the original homer," says Chip, who can still rattle off the starters of the 1979 NBA Championship-winning SuperSonics. When Lenny Wilkens' team won the title that year, Chip drove his Volkswagen Rabbit from Tacoma to Seattle, where he spent the evening driving around gleefully "honking my horn with all the other adolescent males." |
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| Though Chip has not been approached in any official capacity about having an arena in Renton, he does think the city is an ideal place for one. "It's a great location with respect to transportation access," he tells us, noting that Renton has direct access to I-5 from both I-405 and Highway 167. The fact that Renton is zoned for stadiums doesn't hurt either. Should Chris Hansen change his mind about Sodo, Chip would be one of the people to see: Two weeks ago, Renton mayor Denis Law named Chip interim administrator of the city's Community and Economic Development Department. |
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| Renton's biggest rival for the Sonics in 2007 seemed to be Bellevue, as Clay Bennett and co. briefly considered a 14-acre site on the city's auto row as a possible arena site. Wallace Properties COO and Bellevue City councilman Kevin Wallace (who still looks like he could be starting for an NBA team) likes the idea of a stadium in his city, too: "It's a great economic opportunity for the region." Kevin sees a stadium as a potential convention center as well, which would be a draw for Fortune 500 companies. A professional sports venue might be one way for Bellevue to evolve, Kevin suggests. (For more of Kevin's ideas on how Bellevue can mature, check out this video.) While Bellevue is not zoned for stadiums, Kevin points out that when the city wants something badly enough, it has proven it can zip through the permitting process, as it did with Children's Hospital. |
