Argument to destory Keyarena

The year is 1996, its game 7 of the NBA western conference finals. Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone is at the free throw line and misses both of his shots thus sending the Seattle Supersonics to the NBA finals for the first time since they won the 1979 NBA championship. Keyarena went crazy for the beloved Sonics. Little did any of us know that twelve years later the team would be stolen from Seattle and we would be left with an empty arena. Many reasons were cited for the reason why the team was moved but the most talked about one was Keyarena. It’s too old, it’s not big enough, and it doesn’t make enough money were just some of the reasons. It would be expensive to demolish Keyarena and build a new arena in its place, but the benefits of a new arena would far outweigh the cost of building it.

Keyarena opened its doors in 1962 as the Washington State Pavilion and was part of the new Seattle center. After the fair was over it was renamed the Washington State Coliseum and in 1967 Seattle got its first ever pro sports team the Seattle Supersonics. The arena also held many notable concerts such as The Beatles on August 21st, 1964 and Elvis Presley on November 12, 1970. In 1994 people started to realize that the Coliseum was getting old and needed to be renovated thus between 1994 and 1995 the Coliseum was rebuilt bringing up to the standards set by the NBA for a professional sports arena. The Arena was renamed the Keyarena and the year after it opened it hosted the NBA finals when the Seattle Supersonics took on the Chicago Bulls. Even thought the Sonics lost the series the city of Seattle was Buzzing. Over the next twelve years the arena would be host to a WNBA team and a Minor league hockey team. Now in 2010 the hockey team has left to play in a new arena Kent and the Seattle Sonics played their last game on April 13, 2008 and up and moved to Oklahoma.

Keyarena has had some amazing history happen in it and has been a part of not only the Seattle sports scene but a part of the city for a very long time but I think its time for the Keyarena to sing its last song and go into the quite night. On both sides of the argument is money, money, and more money. But has anybody thought about what a new arena might bring to the community, city and state. Because of how old Keyarena is not just the city of Seattle but the state of Washington lost its only pro-basketball team. Not everybody cares about sports but the Sonics were here for 41 years and were a part of the city. I remember being a kid and my dad taking me to a Sonics game which started a lifelong love for the team that lasted all the way until they left in 2008 and it makes me sad that other kids will not be able to experience the same thing with their father. Demolishing and rebuilding a new arena will cost a lot of money but Keyarena is very old. Yes it was renovated in 1995 but the doors on the arena opened in 1962. There are not very many pro teams in any sport still playing in a arena older than Keyarna except the Boston Redsoxs. Not only did we lose the Sonics, but the hockey team that played there, the Seattle Thunderbirds, now play in a new arena in Kent. And a lot of musicians will not come and play in Seattle because the only place they can play at is Keyarena which is hard to get too and is a really small venue. There is one event that will come and be in the Keyarena still and that’s the shows for the World Wrestling Entertainment or better known as the WWE. I went to one of their shows at Keyarena and it was great but you can tell how small the venue is getting as the years go by.

The fight to try and get a new arena funded has been going on for many years. But it didn’t really become public knowledge until the Sonics were sold to an out- of- state ownership group. Owner Clay Bennett wanted the city to fund a new 500 million dollar world class arena but Seattleites were just burned out about the subjects of new stadiums. When the Seattle Mariners wanted to build their new field the city put it to the voters and the voters turned it down but it was forced on the city anyway. People were not as soured by the building of Qwest field because Paul Allen, owner of the Seattle Seahawks said he would also put up money for the new field. (Jessica Kowal. "As Sonics Pack to Leave Town, Seattle Shrugs. " New York Times 13 Nov. 2006, Late Edition (East Coast): New York Times, ProQuest. Web. 23 May. 2010.) Here it is 2 years of the Sonics have left and the fight to build a new arena continues. Back when everybody was fighting to keep the Sonics in town the C.E.O of Microsoft Steve Ballmer came forward with a group who were willing to buy the Sonics and put up $150 million to help fund a new arena and the public would only have to raise $100 million. Well there is a new package out there now were the public would not have to pay any money at all. Basically along with the Ballmer money what they would do is a user/entertainer fee. What that means is let’s say the Boston Celtics come to town to play basketball, well the players on the Celtics would pay a fee to play here and any entertainer who would come to Seattle would also pay a fee and some of the price would also be worked into the ticket price. (http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=319603)

Back in 1962 when the Coliseum was built it was a state of the art building, and back in 1995 when it was remolded and renamed Keyarena it was a state of the art building once again. Keyarena will always hold a special place in the heart of every Seattleite just like the Kingdom does but let’s face it Keyarena is getting very old. With a new arena not only could Seattle get its basketball team back but there might be a good chance that we could get a professional hockey team here as well. Why do I think we should build a new arena? Because not only does it bring in money to the city by having a pro sports franchises in town but it also brings a since of community, togetherness and gives a place where everybody can go and really behind their favorite team.