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Lemieux's vision a long shot
Eric Heyl is a Tribune-Review staff writer. He can be reached via e-mail or 412-320-7857.
The Penguins proposed a new $225 million facility across from Mellon Arena.
The existing arena would then be demolished for a $480 million redevelopment of the lower Hill District, which was leveled in the 1950s to clear land for their current home.
Had Lewis Carroll owned a hockey team, it's improbable he could have concocted a more outrageous financial fantasy than has Lemieux Group LP, which purchased the bankrupt Penguins in 1999. This is Alice in Wonderland activity, Lemieux's trip down the rabbit hole chasing not an errant bunny, but instead millions in public money.
The team predicts primarily private development of the lower Hill once its new arena is built. Unfortunately, the financing plan for Mario Center currently consists of an uncertain shrug. That's unlikely to pass muster with most lending agencies, so the Pens want you to pick up most of the new arena's cost.
Precisely how much, they aren't saying just yet. Instead of calculating the amount, the Pens instead have busied themselves sketching a new street grid for the Mellon Arena property. This despite Lemieux never having proven his stupendous scoring skills translate into remotely comparable urban planning ability.
Suspicions are bound to arise that the whole lower Hill redevelopment proposal is but a ruse conceived solely to build support for public financing for a new arena. A ploy quickly forgotten by fans once Mario Center opens.
If indeed that's the case, the following conversation might one day take place in the vast parking lot where Mellon Arena now stands:
"Hey, wasn't they supposed to build a hotel or something here once Mario Center was built 'n' at?" Tom asks.
"I don't believe you!" Dom says. "Mario wins two Stanley Cups, buys the Penguins, wins the Olympics and builds a brand new arena with state-of-the-art men's room troughs. Now you want him to be Conrad Hilton, too?"
"Naw," Tom says. "I was just wonderin' where we would park for hockey games if they get rid a all this perfectly good asphalt."
In asking for a substantial, though yet undefined, public contribution, the Pens are ignoring the fact Old Mother Public's cupboard is virtually bare. She sprung for most of PNC Park and Heinz Field, remember?
Also being ignored is the fact it's much easier to privately finance a new arena than a baseball or football stadium. That's because an arena can host more events than stadiums, prompting a greater return on the investment.
But Lemieux Group President Ken Sawyer doesn't believe a new arena here could pay for itself. Yet Columbus, Ohio, a market similar in size to Pittsburgh, somehow found private financing for the $150 million Nationwide Arena that debuted in 2000.
The Pens obviously prefer the begging route.
But keep any indignation you may feel in check for now. There probably will be a more appropriate time to vent any outrage on this attempted public money grab.
Wait until the date someone first suggests increasing the Allegheny Regional Asset District sales tax to pay for Mario Center. With an apparent lack of alternative funding sources, you may not have to wait very long.
