Mary E. O’Leary, New Haven Register Topics Editor, 1/13/2005

NEW HAVEN — Finally, it was their turn. Sports fans and advocates of reusing the shuttered Veterans Memorial Coliseum came out Wednesday night to a Board of Aldermen hearing on razing the 30-year-old structure, arguing that it would be a costly mistake for a city in need of parking spaces and facing a budget deficit. The plan was also generally seen as unfair to families looking for a place to view less expensive sports entertainment vs. those interested in the arts.

The plan was also generally seen as unfair to families looking for a place to view less expensive sports entertainment vs. those interested in the arts.

"We’re faced with no sports venue within easy driving distance," said Jerry Deno of Branford, president of the Coalition to Save Our Coliseum.

A contingent of former workers at the Coliseum and hockey players or fans were among the 70 people in attendance at the hearing, the first one devoted exclusively to the fate of the arena, two years after it was closed.

"The Coliseum offered a gathering place for people of all backgrounds, not just the privileged demographic that a theater attracts," said Kevin Tennyson of North Haven, referring to the plan to put the Long Wharf Theatre on a portion of the Coliseum site.

He accused the city of "creating culture warfare," while others urged the aldermen not to rush into a quick decision.

Hubert Woodard asked the board to table the matter because there were too many unanswered questions.

"Having done this thoughtfully, you can feel that you have served your electorate well and we will feel that you have given the issue fair and careful scrutiny," said Woodard of Greene Street.

Gene Sesta, an architect, said the building was not properly maintained but was not beyond repair. He said it should be adapted for reuse by Gateway Community College, which the city and state want to relocate a block away.

"This needs a lot more study," Sesta said.

Imploding the arena and its 2,400-vehicle garage at a cost of $6 million and clearing the 6-acre site in the Ninth Square neighborhood is part of a complicated development plan proposed by the city.

The Coliseum was closed in September 2002 after SMG, which was hired to run it, said it needed $1 million in annual subsidies to continue operating and $10 million in basic repairs, or as much as $30 million to compete with similar venues.

Over time, more than $49 million in public subsidies were invested in the Coliseum, which city officials said could no longer attract the lucrative music events that migrated to newer arenas in the state.

Economic Development Administrator Henry Fernandez supports relocating Long Wharf Theatre to a portion of the Coliseum site with the $30 million promised by the state.

For the remaining area, he is hoping a private developer comes through with a plan for a hotel and conference center, which, depending on its size, likely would require a public subsidy.

Before that happens, however, the area would serve as a massive temporary parking lot, as will the former Edw.

Malley Co. lot on Church Street, until two new garages come on line, one off Crown Street and the other behind 1 Church St.

Those garages are part of a city commitment to assist the state in relocating Gateway Community College to a nearby two-block area on Church Street, a plan that doesn’t work unless the temporary space is available.

Kimberly Thomas of New Haven criticized the plan as "nebulous" and said it was "wasteful to destroy, only to rebuild," referring to the need to build the parking garages.

The state has committed $140 million to the design and construction of a four-story college that would cover two blocks and straddle George Street, a design that has been criticized as foisting a suburban campus onto an urban setting.

Matthew Nemerson, former chairman of the Coliseum Authority, said closing the arena was the "tough, rational thing to do," although it was emotionally wrenching for those who had supported it for decades.

He called it an experiment that could no longer work, but suggested the city at some point could work with Yale University and other area colleges to provide a smaller version elsewhere.