Fayetteville Arkansas, University of Arkansas--Old Main Overview

Fayetteville Arkansas, University of Arkansas--Old Main Overview
Overview of Fayetteville, AR

Saturday, October 21, 2006

More Options for NW Arkansas Sports Fans

The City of Bentonville had big plans for a new sports arena. It recently outlined plans for City West, a 90-acre mixed-use development that city leaders hoped would be developed in the western section of the city.

It sounded great – in addition to a 9,000-seat sports and entertainment arena, the complex would also have had a bowling alley, a multi-screen movie complex, and a movie and sound studio. Hotels, office, retail and residential spaces would have completed the complex when it was built out.

Everything changed October 19th when the Rogers City Council announced the sports arena would be built in their city near I-540 and Pleasant Crossing. Seems the distance from I-540 and lack of infrastructure (mainly roads) were the deciding factors in moving the development from Bentonville to Rogers.

The name has also changed. It will be known as the Northwest Arkansas Sports and Entertainment Arena.

Talk has already started about bringing a WNBA team to the new arena. The plans for the arena are basically the same as before: 9,000 seats and forty luxury boxes. The project will include a training center, as well as two hotels and various commercial and retail businesses.

Site work is expected to begin in four to six weeks with a projected completion date of Sept. 15, 2008.

Meanwhile, the City of Springdale has formally signed a contract to bring Double-A baseball to the stadium it plans to build in southwest Springdale. The Kansas City Royals’ farm team of the Texas League, currently known as the Wichita Wranglers, will be renamed and call Springdale home when the 2008 season starts.

For more background on the baseball stadium in Springdale, please read my blog article dated July 21, 2006.

Both projects are huge undertakings and are sure to spur even more economic development in our area.

For more information:

http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=bcdr§ion=News&storyid=39468

http://ww .nwaonline.net/articles/2006/09/27/news/092806szrichvisit.txt

http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/41098/

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