But wary Bellevue officials, while lured by the concept, see little progress in the realm of acquiring the land or financing the construction. Tuckman may have hit booming Bellevue at just the right time with just the right vision.
Tuckman's vision includes a 6,500-seat sports arena to house minor league teams in basketball, hockey, indoor tennis, arena football and soccer, with an adjacent 2,000-seat theater for the performing arts. He says he has a 3-year option for a Continental Basketball Association team and a done deal for a hockey team, and he hints that the announcement of a team in a third sport will be forthcoming soon.
The major problem is not land acquisition, or $150-million in construction financing, but traffic. The area in question is already congested. Bringing in another 8,500 people for more than 100 events annually poses a crucial problem for which no one, not even Tuckman, has a solution.
These are the facts: King County owns half the targeted 3 acres, and the City of Bellevue owns the other half, but no talks have been held or scheduled by Tuckman with either. The City has no plans as yet for the performing arts center, which would have to be built simultaneously with the sports arena. Any project that will increase traffic in the already congested area will have trouble getting the needed permits.
But the lure is strong. The Mayor and the City Council speak of the vision longingly. It is fast becoming part of the Bellevue psyche. And there is appeal in Tuckman's words about the danger of Bellevue growing into "a city of concrete and steel with no heart and soul." So Bellevue waits for a peek at that arena design.
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