Officials want to build new arena on state fairgrounds
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By: Sara Yingling
KRQE 13
Officials say they are finally wrapping up a study to potentially build an arena in one part of the Albuquerque metro.
"They'll bring the Bruno Mars, the Lady Gaga, but you gotta get more than 11,000 seats that we have here at Tingley," said Dan Mourning, General Manager of Expo NM.
EXPO New Mexico is now in the final stages of conducting a feasibility study on the construction of a new arena on the state fairgrounds.
General Manager Dan Mourning, says it's something they've been working on for years, as they look into various aspects of building an arena.
"Determine what size of arena. What could be coming into New Mexico? Is it a sports thing? It's not just concerts. What other national shows are out there?" said Mourning.
Mourning says the push for a bigger arena comes after they noticed top tier acts "passing through" New Mexico and playing at cities that can accommodate large stage productions.
"They don't want to be in something that is too small that they can't get their staging in," said Mourning.
He also says they've already seen artists having to scale down their performances, like Panic! At The Disco, who just recently performed at Tingley Coliseum.
"They have a floating piano. We weren't able to do that because of the ceiling height. There's no arena in the state that can do that. We were the best option that they had," said Mourning.
Mourning says he's already had conversations with large scale promoters like Live Nation, who say this is something they're interested in.
The study is looking to address that, plus seat 15,000 people.
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