Does arena need to be downsizable?

Arenas in many cities are having to downsize, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. Because there are fewer and fewer big sellout concerts, arenas are creating smaller “theaters” within the arenas. And it’s more than just curtaining off some sections. Some arenas have custom-made dividers, mood lighting and even chandeliers that descend from the rafters. Is that part of Sedgwick County’s downtown arena plans? Does it need to be?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

9 Comments

  1. Joe Williams
    Posted November 20, 2005 at 10:48 am | Permalink

    Yeah! OKC’s Arena has the curtains. Which is used basically all of the time.

    The only thing I the arena really needs is good acoustics. The old coliseum is pretty bad, and the OKC’s arena is really bad. So bad in fact that acts refused to go back in play there. I no Cher refuses to go back because of bad acoustics.

  2. JWink
    Posted November 20, 2005 at 11:54 am | Permalink

    Yes, by all means downsize the arena as follows. Reduce the seats now proposed for the downtown arena by 50%. Then disassemble those remaining seats and combine them into one seat per two remaining seats thus making work for many unemployed Wichita workers. Then take the remaining seats to the automobile salvage yard on south Meridian to be crunched into one large metal ball.

    Then bury this bad idea for Sedgwick County’s taxpayers in a secret location along the west bank of the Arkansas River south of Kellogg among thousands of rusted automobile relics which I have been told were buried there many years ago to stablize the river bank.

    This would be loudly applauded by the 80,000 Sedgwick County taxpayers who voted against the arena and the thousands more who have since turned against it after learning the truth.

  3. Damoon
    Posted November 20, 2005 at 6:37 pm | Permalink

    This is a little off subject, but last night we went to the Johnny Rivers concert at the old Orpheum Theatre. What great acoustics!!! I think the Wichita Grand Opera Company should help finish restoring it, then it would be PERFECT for the operas. I’ve been to several at Century 2 and the acoustics are lousy. Plus the Orpheum LOOKS like an opera house. It’s also the perfect size.

  4. Tron
    Posted November 21, 2005 at 5:17 am | Permalink

    In that case with the thinking of our city leaders, the Orpheum should be torn down immediately and either be given to developers or turned into a parking lot!

  5. VC
    Posted November 21, 2005 at 8:43 am | Permalink

    Yes! They need to downsize the arena to a big zero! We don’t need it!

  6. Tron
    Posted November 21, 2005 at 9:02 am | Permalink

    Yeah. Funny how after it’s been shoved down our throats that now the stories and studies come out telling how traffic will be a nightmare, not enough parking and they will fill it MAYBE 10% of the time.

  7. Jed
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 10:23 am | Permalink

    After they’ve torn down the new arena, there’ll be plenty of space for downtown parking.

  8. justoneman
    Posted November 22, 2005 at 7:54 pm | Permalink

    NO, the bigger the better!!!!!!!! BUILD, BUILD, AND BUILD some more. That way when the damn thing goes belly-up there will be a really nice building to put a casino in.

  9. Jed
    Posted November 24, 2005 at 10:59 pm | Permalink

    Just,Then what’ll we do with it when the casino folds? This town can’t support a casino any more than it’ll support an arena! Wouldn’t it be better (and a hell of a lot cheaper)to forget both and go straight to parking?