The Avalanche’s AHL affiliate might be out of Loveland soon.
Reports out of Northern Colorado revealed some interesting details about the AHL affiliate for the Colorado Avalanche. The Colorado Eagles might be on the move out of Loveland and out of the newly named and renovated Blue Arena.
Luckily, they wouldn’t be moving out of Colorado. Rather, the team may be moving East to Greeley. Martin Lind, a developer in the area, is looking to develop land West of the city on US Highway 34 and Promontory Parkway. The “West Side Project” proposed area is Southeast of the current home to the Eagles and the entire Ranch complex.
The new land would not only house the arena but would be a mixed-use area, with hotels and a water park. The arena itself would hold 8,500-9,000 people for hockey and upwards of 10,000-12,000 for concerts. Alongside the arena would be a recreation ice rink with at minimum three sheets of ice for youth hockey, and perhaps a new practice facility for the Eagles as well.
Lind was originally enlisted by Larimer County to help redevelop the Ranch complex and expand the Eagles’ current arena to 8,000-9,000 people, alongside the surrounding rodeo areas. But he has looked to this new “West Side Project” instead, buying 800 acres of land in the proposed area of development.
The move wouldn’t be too bad for the Eagles since it’s right down the road and not terribly far from its current area. Perhaps the most enticing part of the move might be getting a new stadium, as Blue Arena is one of the smallest by seating capacity in the AHL (5,829). A higher seating capacity not only means an increase in profit, but more availability for fans to attend games.
Greeley’s City Council had a meeting yesterday to evaluate a variety of things before the venture can go forward. Colorado already has one of the most hostile environments in the AHL, and perhaps a bigger arena with more ringing cowbells would only help their case in the coming years.
The news was originally broken by Dallas Heltzell of BizWest, be sure to check out this article and this one too with all of the information about this new development. What would you think of the move for the Eagles? Let us know in the comments below!
