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Emerald City Center
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Apr 1, 1:11pm
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•http://www.emeraldcitycenter.com/
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Press Release:
SEATTLE - (Business Wire) Plans to build a 100% privately financed entertainment facility designed to host professional basketball and hockey in downtown Seattle were announced today. The Emerald City CenterTM (ECC), emeraldcitycenter.com [emeraldcitycenter.com] , a multipurpose sports/entertainment/exposition complex is being developed by B2 Inc., a Seattle-based consulting company.
B2 co-principal and former Seattle SuperSonic, Fred Brown, made the announcement: "Today is a historic day for the city of Seattle, the state of Washington, and the Pacific Northwest. I am very proud to announce the first step towards hopefully bringing a NBA championship and another Stanley Cup back to Seattle." Brown was captain of the 1979 SuperSonics, who won the city's first and only NBA championship. The Seattle Metropolitans hockey team became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup in 1917.
The Emerald City Center will be a 100% privately financed sports/entertainment/exposition center. Its design will meet the facility standards of both the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. In addition to professional sports, the ECC will feature exposition pavilions to showcase Washington state commerce, technology, agriculture and natural resources. The ECC will also serve as a cultural center for Pacific Northwest Native Americans and other local ethnic groups.
B2 has identified five potential locations for the ECC; three sites in Seattle's SoDo district near Safeco Field, Pier 46 on the waterfront between Qwest Field and Safeco and the Seattle Center. B2 will undertake a site feasibility study to determine the optimal location of the ECC.
"We will conduct an exhaustive location study to ensure that the community's best interests are served. We will not compromise the integrity of the project by recommending a location influenced by outside interests. We will do the right thing," Brown said.
B2 will submit expansion team applications for both the NBA and NHL franchises. "In reality, the Sonics are gone, and quite frankly we do not want to be part of an effort to relocate an existing team to Seattle. We are using the NFL Cleveland Browns model of how to reestablish a team and a facility in a proven pro-sports market," Brown noted. The original Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens. Cleveland was then granted an NFL expansion team and launched the new Cleveland Browns with a new football stadium.
"It's obvious that the days of taxpayer-financed sports facilities are over in Seattle. While most facilities are used on a limited basis, our business model creates a 365 days per year revenue stream for the complex, which is very attractive for private investors. We believe the ECC will become a model for other cities to use as they explore facility challenges," Brown continued.
Announcement of the ECC is the first step toward building a state-of-the-art facility in downtown Seattle. "This is a major undertaking. Not unlike the vision and work that created the Seattle World's Fair in 1962, the Emerald City Center needs all elements of our community, pulling together to create a facility that will provide value to all of our residents, not just the sports fans, for decades to come," said Dave Bean, B2 co-principal and Senior Director of WONGDOODY Communications.
More info: earthtimes.org/articles/show/b2-inc-announces-new-privately-financed-downto... [earthtimes.org/articles/show/b2-inc-announces-new-privately-financed-downto...] ,335160.shtml
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