Developers who are renovating the Nassau Coliseum said that it will take until March '17 to "reopen the arena, three months later than originally planned," according to Robert Brodsky of NEWSDAY. Forest City Ratner Exec Chair Bruce Ratner, who is spending $260.5M to "renovate the arena and build an adjacent retail and entertainment complex, made the disclosures" yesterday during a news media tour of the construction project. Ratner: "You will find when this is completed that it will be one of the great structures in this country." A Ratner spokesperson said that a Kentucky-Hofstra men's basketball game scheduled for Dec. 10, which was "originally to be played at the Coliseum, will be played at Barclays Center" instead (NEWSDAY, 3/31).
LONELY ISLAND: On Long Island, Randi Marshall notes most of the questions fielded by Ratner and Nassau County Exec Ed Mangano yesterday "were about whether the renovations would lead" to the Islanders' return, but "neither took that bait." The arena "will accommodate just 13,000 for hockey, and the reduction in seats was portrayed as an effort to make it more spacious, with better accessibility." Not only are there "no expectations for an Islanders' permanent return to the Coliseum, but there's even a question as to a minor league hockey team's presence." When asked about the possibility of minor league hockey, Ratner "pointed to the plans" for an NBA D-League team." He said that the potential for a minor league hockey team "would be discussed with the Islanders' new ownership." While there is a "plan for the Islanders to play six games at their former home, that too seems a bit up in the air, in part because of the team's changing ownership" and in part because the NHL "hasn't approved it" (NEWSDAY, 3/31). Also on Long Island, Joye Brown notes reporters at yesterday's site tour "asked many, many questions" about the Islanders. Ratner said that while there "are plans to sell naming rights," the building "would retain its original moniker, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, too." Brown: "Just how that would work went unexplained." Ratner "tried repeatedly to redirect the conversation away from the Coliseum’s past to its future, saying that current renovations would end up birthing a major music venue" (NEWSDAY, 3/31).
