| An Arena Without Taxes | |
Nationwide Insurance Co., owner of 90 percent of the new downtown sports arena, expects to hire a project manager by August 1 and an architect and general contractor by mid August. Things need to move quickly for the arena to be completed in 24 months. What is interesting, however, is that Nationwide has not mentioned the project on its web site.
The $125 million arena will be built at the north side of Nationwide Blvd. just west of Front St. It is expected to seat 18,500 for hockey and 20,000 for concerts. The Dispatch Printing Company will own 10 percent of the project; Nationwide is hoping to receive as much as $81 million from private investors. Project coordinators are still working to determine how much downtown land the project will need.
The project is being touted as "without taxes", but this isn't entirely true. City Council okayed the project and committed necessary funding to clean up the Penitentiary site, an amount recently estimated at $10 million but possibly $12 million or more. Also, the city will pay to extend Nationwide Blvd. past the arena to the Spring-Sandusky Interchange.
UPDATE: Since this feature was written, Nationwide has created www.nationwidearena.com.
