The news came down Thursday during the Empire State Development meeting, when the board unanimously approved the decision to move forward to build a 19,000-seat arena at Belmont Park. The arena will cost an estimated $1.3 billion. The Islanders remain confident in being on schedule in order to open up their new arena for the 2020-21 season. According to Newsday's Jim Baumbach, the Franchise Oversight Board still needs to approve the plan. Lawsuits could also arise at any moment in an attempt to thwart the project. If everything goes in the Islanders' way, a groundbreaking ceremony could soon be on the way to commemorate the historic moment.
Once the plans come together and they finally break ground, that will be an event that will be a sight for sore eyes for Islanders fans to get the franchise back on stable ground here where they belong.And this could be huge for the Islanders for a number of reasons.
First and foremost it gives them a stable place to play in an actually arena built for hockey. No disrespect to Barclays center but I've said this all the time, it's not and has never been a hockey rink. I'm glad the Islanders were able to set up shop there. But since the fact that Barclays isn't built for hockey, and the fact that the Isles have to split time between there and Nassau Coliseum until Belmont is build, makes it hard, in my mind, to attract free agents. Some guys might not want to play here right now because of Barclays and bouncing around between rinks.
Now that Islanders fans know that the building has been approved, I think I can speak for some, if not most, when i say it will be so nice to get into a barn of our very own. We will rock the place as loud as we did the old Coliseum during the glory years.
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!
No comments:
Post a Comment