A consultant hired to gauge the viability of a new arena downtown says it has potential, according to a study released by Fort Wayne city officials Wednesday.
Potential, though, is a broad term, Mayor Tom Henry said at a news conference Wednesday. So the city has appointed a special committee of 16 business leaders who will study whether it is really needed, whether it will simply steal business from other venues and whether the public really wants it.
The consultant’s report, which cost the city $39,000, said there is no venue here for events that need arenas in the 5,000-seat range and that events touring the country are not finding a home in Fort Wayne.
The study also said there is little competition from other cities that have arenas of that size.
A new arena could bring more events to the city and create jobs, said Sweetwater Sound founder Chuck Surack, who will head the committee. But most questions remain unanswered, he said, including where an arena would go, how it would be paid for, whether the public would support it and whether it would draw events away from Memorial Coliseum and Embassy Theatre.
“We don’t know what the conclusion is,” Surack said, noting that committee members haven’t even seen the consultant’s report yet. “We’re going to see. We’re going to vet it out and see if it makes sense and make a recommendation.”
Surack said the committee’s work “will take the time that it takes, not three months, but not a year – somewhere in between.”