Well, if you believe all the local pundits, owners, media people, and League-sanctioned hitmen, the Kings are on the verge of something pretty amazing out at the old Cal Expo horse-racing grounds.
Arco, which is just not up to NBA standards so has to go, is a fairly old facility now, with some of the worst visiting locker rooms this side of the Old Boston Gardens. Plus, and this is the big one, it lacks good acoustics. Anyone familiar with these types of arenas should be aware that usage of the arenas for concerts and other types of entertainment means more money to everyone, but you have to book the acts and several groups complain every year that Arco does not deliver. That is bad Karma for any arena.
So in steps the League, who negotiates with the Cal Expo people (who have wanted to upgrade the grounds for years) to build THE complex out there. Get rid of the race track, build a mighty arena at the corner intersection and next to a gigormous Cal Expo exhibition hall, then expand the plan westward towards Business 80 with housing and business complexes that will pay big dividends to the developers and complete the whole thing in about twenty years. But the arena, please note, with be built first and much sooner.
The League presented the plans to the Cal Expo Board about two weeks ago, ejovj included city dignitaries such as our new, former NBA star resident mayor, Kevin Johnson. The designs also appeared in the Bee for the public to follow along with bobble headed nods of agreement. The Cal Expo Board, which were supposed to review the plans, provide comments, and then vote on them, opted instead to vote immediately on them and.....unanimously APPROVED them.
So now it looks very promising to the Kings' organization and owners Joe and Gavin Maloof, that something very exciting may be coming around. They first need to find a developer willing to sign on who can do the grandiose design and Cal Expo retrofit. In THIS economy. Nothing like perfect timing. Also, the Business 80 by-pass nearby, which will be the main road leading into the Cal Expo area, bottlenecks at that spot. If Sacramento does not come up with a monorail system or a spur for Light Rail to bring fans to and from the area from downtown, which is just across the American River from all this, there will be a firestorm of protests from the neighborhood.
