The Cavaliers yesterday announced that the $140M "transformation of Quicken Loans Arena is a go," according to a front-page piece by Karen Farkas of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. The announcement comes a little more than a week after Cavs CEO Len Komoroski said that the organization was "withdrawing from the project." The project was "revived last Thursday after critics withdrew petitions that would have required a referendum on Cleveland's contribution to the transformation." The Cavs said then that they would "reconsider the decision to pull out of the deal to renovate Quicken Loans Arena since construction delays that would have occurred due to a required vote on the referendum were no longer an issue." If construction begins by mid-September, the Cavs may "salvage the opportunity to host the NBA All-Star game" in '20 or '21. But the Cavs said that issue is "still to be determined." The deal that was reached last December to transform the 22-year-old arena "apparently remains the same." The Cavs will "extend their lease" from '27-34. The team also "pledged to rehab basketball floors in all of the city of Cleveland's rec centers and all of the Cleveland school district's high schools." That pledge would have "involved about 40 gymnasiums" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 9/7). The AP's Dake Kang noted the Cavs "plan to fund half the project." The other $70M will "come from public funding" (AP, 9/6).
