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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Worcester A Future Home For Minor League Ice Hockey Team? County, State To Study Possibility

SNOW HILL — The Worcester County Commissioners have agreed to further study the possibility of building a 6,200-seat, indoor multi-purpose sports complex to support a minor league hockey team in the northern part of the county, among other activities, as well as an additional outdoor venue to support it.

Worcester County Economic Development Director Bill Badger told the commissioners that last summer his department by contacted by Hat Trick Consultants of Grapevine, Texas “to discuss their interest in building a 6,200-seat arena outside of Ocean City to attract a minor league hockey franchise.”

According to paperwork, the proposed arena “would serve as a multipurpose facility, thereby attracting professional sports franchises, concerts, high school and/or college basketball teams, lacrosse tournaments, conventions, boxing matches, horseback riding events, business meetings and other sporting events.”

An arena study was conducted and projected 125 events a year with over 400,000 attendees and 100 full-time jobs. The commissioners received the study last summer as did the Maryland Stadium Authority.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

OLD.... they were going to come to SBY but again they being SBY gave them the run around like all business or teams who want to be here...

Anonymous said...

How is that arena in Salisbury working out?

Anonymous said...

The shore is big time hockey country 4 sure. Bet it will be sold out crowds every game.

Anonymous said...

Yep. Team was interested in Salisbury, but cowards in County wouldn't challenge ban on alcohol sales at Civic Center. A plan was recommended to move deed restriction to a ball field which is what the Civic Center was supposed to be anyway, so county is already in violation of deed. Distant heirs didn't seem to care about enforcing restriction. No guts, no glory. No leadership from Mackes and catering to Prettyman kept the possibility from going forward. This will now probably happen in Worcester. Another timid failure by the Pollitt crowd to have "vision" something he touted all the time.

Anonymous said...

Economic tests have to be completed before venues are built.Sby does not have the per capita income to justify an arena.Facts are facts.The money is just not here to support such a thing.Wicomico County needs to purchase Safran as in yesterday.All of their expansion woes would officially be over and the temp agency that is Safran would do us all a favor and leave.

Anonymous said...

Sporting venues don't make fiscal sense without alcohol. That is where most of your profits come from

Anonymous said...

The civic center Is holding back wicomico county.

Anonymous said...

Build a venue at labinal and let the civic center fold.

Anonymous said...

This is asinine and those who voted for it should be embarrassed. How about concentrating on trying to lure better paying manufacturing jobs into Worcester county so people would have a better option when job searching then just the retail/ hospitality industry.
Any supposed jobs this arena will create will just be more low paying dead end jobs.

Anonymous said...

yes, very ashamed of those who voted to spend all that money yesterday for Badger to ride around to vegas and elsewhere plus the train and arena study---waste waste waste
I happened to see the Tustin man driving around sunday in a new explorer cant find this anywhere on bid documents but did find they cut it from the budget last year guess he just bought a new truck anyway---no regard for us taxpayers

Anonymous said...

Clear out the civic center in wicomico county! Mackes never met a young B.S. degree he could give a do little or nothing job for 45k.