Broomfield – When it opens in 2006, the Broomfield Event Center is expected to host not only minor-league hockey and basketball games but also events such as pro bull riding and Disney on Ice.
Hockey and basketball coaches and players are being recruited to play in fall 2006, said Tim Wiens, a developer of the 6,000-seat arena near Wadsworth Boulevard and U.S. 36. Wiens and a consultant said the facility would open then.
“We’ll have to gain practice facilities for both of the teams in the metro area until the event center is ready to go,” Wiens said. “We’re interviewing general managers and coaching staff and getting in a position to recruit over the season and build a team.”
Broomfield council members in a 9-1 vote approved a plan early Wednesday morning to build the new $45 million venue as part of a mix of apartments, shops, restaurants and offices on a 200-acre site.
Neighbors in Broomfield and Westminster spoke mostly against the event center for more than two hours late Tuesday night – complaining that they are afraid it will bring additional cars, noise and drunken drivers.
Councilwoman Bette Erickson was the only nay vote. She said she did not want to set a precedent of not listening to residents.
“They’re going to offer a Band-Aid on a volcano pretty much in dealing with traffic on the frontage road next to (U.S.) 36,” said Mary Bacon, president of the Westminster Green Knolls homeowners association.
While traffic estimates varied, one consultant said a 4- percent increase in the number of cars in the area would come mostly for evening events. Wiens and business partner John Frew expect to light up the arena more than 120 nights per year.
Broomfield’s ambitious sports schedule has raised the ire of the Loveland-based Colorado Eagles. While the Eagles dropped their club franchise-infringement lawsuit against Wiens and Frew in Colorado, according to a Larimer County district court document another lawsuit against their hockey franchise remains in Arizona.
Broomfield earlier gave the developers $91 million in tax incentives to build roads and lay utilities at the site. The city will own the event center, paying for it with money collected from rising property taxes as the site is developed and with some sales tax from new stores. Wiens and Frew will manage the center.
