Presented by: Proposed Sports and Event Complex in Coeur d ...

Year Public Contribution
Facility Location Opened Capacity State County City Other Total
Verizon Wireless Arena Manchester, NH 2001 11,000 -- -- 55.0 -- 55.0
Arena at Harbor Yard Bridgeport, CT 2001 10,000 35.0 -- 17.0 -- 52.0
Giant Center Hershey, PA 2002 10,500 25.0 25.0 -- -- 50.0
Sovereign Bank Arena Trenton, NJ 1999 10,500 -- 47.0 -- -- 47.0
Resch Center Green Bay, WI 2002 10,000 1.5 42.5 1.2 -- 45.2
Everett Events Center (1) Everett, WA 2003 8,200 -- 11.3 26.3 -- 37.6
Laredo Entertainment Center Laredo, TX 2002 9,600 -- -- 35.5 -- 35.5
Sovereign Center Reading, PA 2001 9,000 14.0 -- 16.6 4.0 34.6
Tyson Events Center (2) Sioux City, IA 2003 10,110 21.8 0.2 9.0 2.0 33.0
Ford Arena Beaumont, TX 2003 9,700 -- 32.0 -- -- 32.0
CenturyTel Center Bossier City, LA 2000 13,200 -- -- 28.0 -- 28.0
Cabarrus Arena and Event Center Concord, NC 2002 5,000 -- 25.1 -- -- 25.1
Budweiser Events Center Loveland, CO 2003 7,200 -- 25.0 -- -- 25.0
Swiftel Center Brookings, SD 2000 6,500 -- 1.0 12.0 -- 13.0
Average 9,300 $19.5 $23.2 $22.3 $3.0 $36.6
Average (Arena-only) (3)
9,400 $18.9 $28.2 $23.6 $4.0 $36.9
Median 9,900 $21.8 $25.0 $17.0 $3.0 $35.1
Median (Arena-only) (3)
9,900 $19.5 $25.1 $17.0 $4.0 $35.1
(1) Project cost includes the development of an ancillary ice sheet and a conference center.
(2) Project cost includes the conversion of an existing auditorium into a recreation facility.
(3) Excludes construction projects in Sioux City and Everett, which included the development of ancillary facilities in addition to the arena.
Note: All dollar figures are in millions.
Source: Interviews with facility and municipality representatives; industry publications.
As shown in the exhibit, city and county contributions represent the most common sources of
public funding, with each unit of government participating in nine of the 14 construction projects
analyzed. Excluding construction projects involving the development of ancillary facilities in
addition to the arena, the average city contribution toward facility funding approximated $23.6
million, while the average county contribution was approximately $28.2 million. State
governments contributed to five of the facility projects analyzed, respectively, while two
facilities received other public contributions.
Budweiser Events Center
Summary of Public Funding of Comparable Facilities
The Budweiser Events Center was constructed as part of a larger fairgrounds development in
Larimer County, Colorado. Two County-wide referendums were approved prior to development.
The first approved the funding of the purchase of the land for the new fairgrounds through a
0.1% County sales tax increase for one year. The following year, a second referendum approved
a 0.15% County sales tax for 20 years to fund arena construction.
Feasibility Analysis of a New Sports and Event Complex in Coeur d’Alene
Funding Analysis
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