Money still coming in for downtown arena

City Council on Tuesday night heard a bill to accept a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for $247,500 to be used for the arena construction.

It’s not the first grant the city has received – HUD has granted nearly $2 million for the project since fiscal year 2003, according to the bill.

The facility, part of Jordan Valley Park’s long-range plan, would be located between the Jordan Valley Car Park and the Springfield Exposition Center on St. Louis Street.

City Manager Bob Cumley said it’s too early to know when construction could begin on the project. He did say the city hopes to enter into a formal agreement with the federal government sometime next year, which would begin a five-year period during which the grant money would have to be used.

The facility, which would probably seat about 5,000, would fill a gap, Cumley said.

“With the recent announcement (of a new 12,500-seat indoor athletic arena on the Missouri State University campus) by Mr. (John Q.) Hammons and MSU, that’s going to be a larger facility,” he said. “We still believe there’s a market for smaller athletic events – high school tournaments, amateur athletic events, that would fit much better in a smaller facility.”

The city hopes to make the project a public-private partnership, which would be facilitated by having infrastructure in place at the proposed arena site.

“That would be a big benefit for anybody coming in looking at a vacant piece of property, to have all the infrastructure in,” Cumley said. “It’s the perfect area, with parking available and the other amenities around there.”