Developers of a proposed sports arena near Long Island said that they have "reduced the venue’s seating by more than half of its initial 17,500 capacity and are focused on attracting a minor league hockey team for the site," according to MacGowan & Baumbach of NEWSDAY. Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle now "plans to build a 7,500-seat arena and 6,000-seat soccer stadium." The developers said that they "hoped to bring" a team from the AHL as part of a $1.1B development that also would "include offices, a convention center and medical facilities." Last year the company pitched the 17,500-seat arena plan that they said could "accommodate an NHL franchise." However, both the Islanders and NHL officials said that they had "no interest in the team playing there." JLL Vice Chair Derek Trulson said 7,500 seats is a "perfect fit," as it has "multipurpose use written all over it." Hockey HOFer Pat LaFontaine will join the project and "develop grassroots athletic programs including" a possible AHL team. LaFontaine will also try to "lure women's hockey and other sports leagues, including soccer and lacrosse, to the arena and an adjacent outdoor athletic field added to the proposal" (NEWSDAY, 3/6).
