KALAMAZOO / PORTAGE / BATTLE CREEK | Development Thread

[deja vu]

Wow, I thought this ship sailed a looong time ago. Apparently the idea of a downtown arena is being resurrected by some of the local powers that be.

Backers of a new downtown events center say facility could be Kalamazoo's crown jewel
Rachel Glaser | WWMT
June 15, 2018

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Southwest Michigan First is behind the new push to build an arena in downtown Kalamazoo, several years after plans hit a standstill. In hopes of resurrecting the dream of a downtown Kalamazoo arena, Southwest Michigan First has renewed efforts to build $85 million facility with capacity to seat up to 9,000 people in an arena that could generate millions of dollars in annual tourism spending. More than just an arena, the proposed event center would be the crown jewel that turns downtown Kalamazoo into a destination, according to Ron Kitchens, the chief executive officer of Southwest Michigan First...

If it were to happen, I would want to see it downtown, far-better integrated into the "urban scene" a bit more than if it were near WMU or Heritage Guitar.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by deja vu

Wow, I thought this ship sailed a looong time ago. Apparently the idea of a downtown arena is being resurrected by some of the local powers that be.

If it were to happen, I would want to see it downtown, far-better integrated into the "urban scene" a bit more than if it were near WMU or Heritage Guitar.

What what this do to Wings Event Center? It seems like Kalamazoo has a similar problem to Lansing in that they are cities in their own right apart from their university, but the universities are so large relative to the city and just close enough to the city center that it's always a debate over whether there is a need for a seperate arena. So many of Lansing's cultural amenities are actually MSU-based. Like, Lansing got lucky in that MSU never built a big multi-purpose convention center, because it wouldn't have even had that to itself.

BTW, it looks like MLive finally picked up on the the new downtown apartment building:

$1.1M land deal will bring 135 apartment units to downtown Kalamazoo

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by LMich

What what this do to Wings Event Center? It seems like Kalamazoo has a similar problem to Lansing in that they are cities in their own right apart from their university, but the universities are so large relative to the city and just close enough to the city center that it's always a debate over whether there is a need for a seperate arena. So many of Lansing's cultural amenities are actually MSU-based. Like, Lansing got lucky in that MSU never built a big multi-purpose convention center, because it wouldn't have even had that to itself.

Good question / points. The article doesn't say much and it still sounds very speculative. In addition to Wings, The Expo Center would probably falter too if an arena were built in the city with the intent / capacity to host convention-style expo events. I don't know that Kzoo should try to compete with GR / Van Andel arena for concerts and such. The data from studies done in 2008-2009 are not very confidence-inspiring, either. I just don't see it happening, the demand for it doesn't seem to be there.