ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (CelebrityAccess) — Mayor Richard J. Berry announced last week that the city was abandoning plans to construct an arena at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
In a statement to the media, he said that the plan would not have been the best use of taxpayer funds.
The statement from the Mayor said that due to the proposed venue's low ceilings and limited seating, it would be difficult to attract an anchor tenant.
“It became apparent that we weren’t going to be able to get the amount of seats or the ceiling heights that were required,” Mayor Berry said.
Instead, the money will be directed towards improving the city's Civic Plaza and to modernize the city's convention center's existing exhibit halls, with new air walls and sound panels.
Berry first floated the idea of converting part of the convention center into an arena last 10,000 seat November,
“We can bring people from all over New Mexico, all over the region, all over the country to Albuquerque for sports tourism,” Mayor Berry said at the time. – Staff Writers
