Arizona Coyotes president Xavier Gutierrez provided updates on the state of the team’s search for a new arena in comments before the first round of the NHL Draft Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in Nashville before the start of the draft, Gutierrez said that the NHL team is trying to avoid a public vote on the new arena after voters in Tempe shot down a proposal for a new arena and entertainment district in that city.
“We have been in constant communication with them about all the options that we have,” Gutierrez told reporters. “They feel very confident that we’re doing the right things.
“We’ve told them that one of the things we want to avoid is a public referendum, and everything that we’re looking at is to hopefully have this be something that would avoid that.
“We still want to put our money where our mouth is and build something that will be best in class, and finally, to all the fans, we are committed to making this happen.
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Gutierrez said that the team was discussing six sites for an arena in the East Valley, but failed to go into specifics, only saying that the team had spoken to more than 12 sites and was now in discussions with six as possibilities to be the future home. of the team, who currently plays in Mullett Arena, the home of the Arizona State University men’s hockey team.
“We were disappointed with the vote in Tempe, but we turned the page very quickly,” he said. “We re-engaged with multiple sites that we had talked to beforehand, and we feel quite confident that one of these many sites that we’ve put into play will come to fruition in the timeline that we’ve mentioned.”
He added about the East Valley: “Quite frankly, it’s where a business like ours should be located.”
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More Arizona Coyotes’ new arena comments from Xavier Gutierrez:
Here are some of Gutierrez’s other comments to reporters Wednesday about the state of the search for a new arena for Arizona’s NHL team:
On the overall vision of the arena: “What you guys saw in terms of the renderings, that’s still our vision. That’s still the vision. It’s not just an arena. It’s a practice facility, theater, entertainment, retail. The vision is still to have all of those uses, No . 1. No. 2, the visuals we thought were spectacular, and the sites that we’re looking at actually are probably even more compelling for that type of a setting.”
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On presenting a plan to the NHL: “It could say, ‘Hey, we have these options. This is what needs to happen in order for us to get it finalized and resolved. One of the things we don’t want is to put ourselves in a situation where we have one solution, and that’s why we’re putting multiple options on the table.”
On appeasing the NHL with their plan: “Well, I think what they want to see is, they want to see a result, just like we do.”
On avoiding a vote for their arena: “In Arizona, municipal acts are subject to referendum. What we’re looking at is opportunities where we wouldn’t face that type of public vote. There may be other administrative oversight that needs to happen when you’re talking about land use or what have you, but our goal is to try to get to a straight line and have resolution as quickly as possible… “No one wants to resolve this more than we do. The uncertainty is not good for us, either, and we are doing everything we can to create a certainty.”
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Another interview about Arizona Coyotes’ new arena:
Gutierrez also appeared on the Burns & Gambo Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Wednesday and shed further light on the team’s arena situation, saying that the team would have more to say about it after the first of the year.
“We’re still very much focused on a privately funded sports and entertainment district,” he told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “We’re still committed to finding a location in the Valley, specifically in the East Valley. … We believe we are going to put multiple sites into play and shortly after the first of the year, we’ll have more to say publicly about what the plan looks like and what the location looks like.”
Gutierrez also had this to say when asked if the NHL had a deadline for the Coyotes’ new arena location: “We don’t have a date saying you have to tell us by this date or else we’re going to have to look elsewhere. options. Absolutely not,” Gutierrez said. “We have been very, very side-by-side and aligned with the commissioner and the league office about all of our plans.
“No one wants to resolve this more than (owner Alex Meruelo) and us. We want this to be finally put to bed and for there to be a permanent solution, something that’s frankly been an issue since the organization moved here in 1996.”
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes new arena: NHL team focused on East Valley sites