Independence, Cass County vie for hockey arena

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) -- Cass County and the city of Independence are in a face-off over a proposed arena for a minor league hockey team.

On Tuesday, Independence announced it had reached an agreement with Global Entertainment Corp. to build a 5,600-seat arena for a Central Hockey League team. That announcement came just a week before Cass County residents vote on a proposed sales tax to pay for essentially the same deal with the same company to put an arena in Belton.

Global, which oversees the Central Hockey League, has said only one team will be placed in the Kansas City area and the decision likely would come down to which government gets the best deal done first.

Kent Oelkers, Global's director of business development, said the Phoenix-based company was not pitting Independence and Cass County against each other.

"We've been very upfront with both communities," Oelkers said. "We're in no position to say that either has an edge."

Cass County has a signed memorandum of understanding that calls for Global to oversee construction of an arena and to manage it. But that deal depends on Global committing to a hockey team, which the company has not done.

And the Cass County deal would be moot if voters reject the half-cent sales tax that would raise $50 million to build an arena.

The Independence City Council is scheduled to consider an agreement similar to the Cass County deal at a meeting Monday.

The Independence plan would finance the arena project with a community improvement district, which would levy an additional half-cent sales tax only for businesses in the Missouri 291-Interstate 70 corridor.

City Manager Robert Heacock said Independence has a prime location for development and traffic along I-70.

"We're talking about 100,000 cars a day, and our plan does not rely on speculative retail," Heacock said, referring to Cass County's hope that an arena could stimulate business growth in the area.

Cass County is promoting its plan to residents by suggesting that the arena would be used not only for hockey but other sporting events, concerts, trade shows and high school graduations.

Gary Mallory, the county's presiding commissioner, said Global is doing what it should in encouraging two different plans.

"They want a team here, and they need to keep their options open. If I was them, I would do the same thing," Mallory said.

Global works only in medium-size markets, such as Wichita; Tulsa, Okla.; and Amarillo, Texas. The company typically limits its arenas to 4,000 to 6,000 fixed seats.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com