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City of Henderson on Sports Roll with Golden Knights Ice Center

The new ice center in Las Vegas will be like the VGK ice center in Summerlin. Photo credit: Daniel Clark/LVSportsBiz.com

By ALAN SNEL

LVSportsBiz.com

 

After the poor city of Henderson was taken for a ride by “stadium developer” Chris Milam seven years ago, the Second City’s elected leaders couldn’t say yes fast enough to the Raiders’ plan to build their NFL team headquarters near the Henderson Executive Airport.

 

And after the Raiders and Henderson celebrated the HQ/training center groundbreaking Jan. 14, Henderson city officials were again in a giddy mood Tuesday evening when they approved a proposal by the Vegas Golden Knights to use the Henderson Convention Center site at Water Street and Atlantic Avenue for a community two-rink ice center much like the City National Arena facility in Summerlin.

 

There was not mystery to the fate of the city council’s unanimous approval for the three-acre ice rink project. The Summerlin training center for the Golden Knights cost about $30 million to build and it was privately financed by VGK owner Bill Foley.

 

The Golden Knights training center, which is off South Pavilion Center Drive near Red Rock Resort and the Downtown Summerlin shopping center, has served as a community center that attracts regional and national hockey tournaments, public open skating sessions and locals to the MacKenzie River pizza pub that is situated on a second level between the two ice rinks.

Fans at City Naional Arena watch hockey from the restaurant.

 

The Golden Knights’ extended presence into Henderson is part of an overall business game plan to build a hockey fan base from the youngest generation up. Expect youth hockey leagues and skating sessions at the Henderson facility when it opens in 2020.

 

VGK Prez Kerry Bubolz was at the council meeting to address Henderson’s governing body.

Kerry Bubolz before a VGK game this season. Photo credit: J. Tyge O’Donnell/LVSportsBiz.com

 

And the good news for Henderson is infamous Texas developer Chris Milam is nowhere in sight.

 

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Alan Snel: Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.
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