In Cincinnati, Sharon Coolidge in a front-page piece reports the owner of U.S. Bank Arena is "pitching a top-to-bottom renovation" that would require more than $300M in tax money but "ultimately hand ownership over to the public." Nederlander Entertainment CEO Ray Harris, whose firm owns and operates the arena, yesterday said that the rebuild would "tear the current structure down to the existing pad and take two years." But the proposal was "met with immediate skepticism from officials whose support would be critical to making it a reality." Hamilton County commissioners would "need to approve putting the idea to voters with a majority vote, and Cincinnati City Council would have to allow for the admissions tax portion of the project" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 7/14).
COOL AS ICE: In Albany, Robin Cooper reported New York-based Cool Insuring Agency has "purchased the naming rights of the 4,800-seat Glen Falls Civic Center" in downtown Glen Falls, N.Y. The company "reached a five-year deal to rename the civic center Cool Insuring Arena." The announcement comes as the Adirondack Civic Center Coalition "works to buy" the ECHL Adirondack Thunder (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/11).
UP FOR AUCTION: Onondaga County (N.Y.) Deputy Exec Bill Fisher on Wednesday said that officials would "like to slap a corporate name" on War Memorial Arena "as soon as the upcoming season." In Syracuse, Lindsay Kramer noted the new moniker would "take the form of '(Fill in the blank) Arena at War Memorial.'" The arena is home to the AHL Syracuse Crunch and MASL Silver Knights (SYRACUSE.com, 7/12).
