Venue News: Islanders, Nassau County Make Last-Ditch Effort For Long Island Facility

The Islanders’ may stay in Long Island after all, thanks to a plan unveiled today in which the 39-year-old Nassau Coliseum would be torn down and replaced by a new arena to be built on the site, along with housing units and a baseball field. Local voters must approve a $400 million bond to fund the new arena in a county-wide referendum on Aug. 1 or risk forcing the troubled team to consider bolting Long Island after its Coliseum lease expires in 2015…

…Officials at Towson University in Maryland broke ground Tuesday on the school’s new $62 million, 5,200-seat arena. Construction will start on what is tentatively named Tiger Arena, located behind the school’s current arena, the Towson Center. Scheduled to open in 2013, the arena will be home to the school’s basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball programs…

…The project is still on as planned, but the uncertainty surrounding a completion date for the $35 million renovation to the Sun Dome has prompted University of South Florida athletics officials to begin checking available dates at alternate venues to host all men’s and women’s home basketball games in the 2011-12 season. USF had originally hoped to begin renovating the 30-year-old arena in March and complete it by December. But construction has yet to begin, and AD Bill McGillis says it likely won’t start until at least June…

…West Ham Vice-Chairman Karren Brady insists that relegation, or demotion from its Premier League division, will not scupper plans to take over the Olympic Stadium in London despite the negative impact that demotion is likely to have on the club’s already fragile finances. The Hammers beat Tottenham in the bid to take ownership of the stadium in Stratford following the London 2012 games. But co-owner David Sullivan recently admitted that the club was in a “worse financial position than any other in the country” and claimed that relegation would personally cost him and David Gold £40 million, but Brady insists the club remains fully committed to the new stadium…

…As expected, the Glendale, AZ, City Council agreed 5-2 on Tuesday to pay the NHL up to an additional $25 million so the Phoenix Coyotes could stay another year in the desert. The pledge allows Glendale to continue work on an arena lease with team buyer Matthew Hulsizer through the 2011-12 season. In return, Glendale agrees to cover team and arena losses up to $25 million for a second season, until a team buyer takes over. Glendale made a similar bargain a year ago.