Senators Sports & Entertainment said it is "actively considering the opportunity" to build a new hockey arena in the LeBreton Flats neighborhood in central Ottawa, according to Joanne Chianello of the OTTAWA CITIZEN. SS&E said that it will "make its final decision on whether to submit an application" to the National Capital Commissioner "over the next few weeks." While the Senators believe that an NHL arena at LeBreton "could drive economic development in the core, as well as serve as an 'architectural anchor' for the development, they underlined that they 'feel very strongly that this could only be possible with strong community support.'" Chianello writes the team's stance could be a "call to arms to Sens fans who support an arena in the city core to rise up in support of the idea." It is "not a huge surprise that the Senators are looking as if they are moving ahead with an application for a major redevelopment project at LeBreton." Team Owner Eugene Melnyk has said that the franchise "needed non-hockey revenue in order to thrive." Senators Founder Bruce Firestone and his partners at the time "wanted to make the current arena the centrepiece of a new commercial development, a controversial plan that never materialized." Building an arena not just in a more central location, but right on the new light-rail line "could attract more people to the games." However, the concept of an NHL arena "doesn’t immediately jibe with other NCC criteria for the new development" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 12/11).
