A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Palm Springs arena has been scheduled for February 18, putting an early milestone for the project on the docket.
Oak View Group (OVG) and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians are partnering on the $250 million, privately financed arena that will be built on tribal land in downtown Palm Springs. Along with hosting an AHL expansion team that will be affiliated with the upcoming Seattle NHL expansion franchise, the venue will be used for a number of other events, including concerts, family shows, and more.
On Wednesday, the tribe announced that the arena’s groundbreaking ceremony will take place on Tuesday, February 18. The venue is currently scheduled to be completed by September 2021, allowing it to begin hosting AHL action in the 2021-22 season. More from Desert Sun:
Ron Francis, the general manager of the Seattle NHL franchise and the Palm Springs AHL team, was in the desert Monday to get a feel for the community, including a meet and greet with desert hockey fans who have already put a deposit down for season tickets.
He said the groundbreaking will be a moment that will help solidify in everyone’s mind that the hockey team and the new arena are actually coming to Palm Springs.
“We’ve had good response from fans and ticket sales so far and we’re still kind of in the early stage,” Francis said. “Once we get to the point where we do the groundbreaking on the arena and get something sort of tangible like that, that will kind of help (generate excitement for the team) even more.”
The goal is for the arena to be completed by September 2021, to be ready for the 2021-22 hockey season. Neither the arena nor the hockey teams in Palm Springs or Seattle have names yet.
The arena will offer a capacity of over 11,000 for certain events, with that figure expected to be over 10,000 for AHL games. The AHL announced in late September that it had awarded a Palm Springs expansion franchise to OVG and NHL Seattle. Palm Springs will begin play in the fall of 2021 as the league’s 32nd team.
Renderings via AHLPalmSprings.com.
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