Kent events center gets a sponsor: New York's Amiga

Kent city officials announced on Tuesday a corporate sponsorship that all but ensures its proposed $67 million events center will move forward.

If the City Council approves it, the Amiga Center at Kent would become the new home for the Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team and other "family friendly" entertainment, from holiday bazaars to monster truck shows.

It would also become a testing ground for Amiga, a New York-based global company that produces technologies and applications for wireless devices. Event attendees could expect everything from the cellphone-based ordering of hot dogs to kiosks with the company's newest games.

"This is more than just putting our name on a building," said Bill McEwen, president of Amiga, announcing that he would also move his company's headquarters to Kent. "This is an opportunity for Amiga to join the community."

City officials said they sold the naming rights to the 6,025-seat facility for millions of dollars but would not give a specific figure because the deal has not been finalized.

Kent is also on track in the Legislature to get about $30 million in state funding for the project. The city would finance the rest by issuing bonds, paid off over 30 years through ticket sales, advertising revenue and other means.

The 150,000-square-foot events center would stand in the heart of downtown, within walking distance to Kent Station, one of the city's main attractions. It would host about 117 events per year, including 40 home games for the Thunderbirds. A city-commissioned study said the center would generate an estimated $50 million in state sales tax over the next 30 years.

Information

Proposed events center: www.kenteventscenter.com

"It's going to cement Kent as a unique regional destination in South King County," said Ben Wolters, the city's director of economic development.

Kent has already spent about $3 million in exploratory studies and preliminary design for the events center, which could open as early as fall 2008.

If the state funding comes through, council members are expected to approve the project in a May vote.

The main stumbling block has always been money. The high cost of construction has pushed the project's price tag up about $14 million from early estimates, city officials said. Some questioned whether Kent could secure enough money from the state to make the events center financially feasible, particularly when the Legislature was also considering a proposal to partially fund an arena for the Sonics in Renton.

"There were some times when it looked like it wasn't going to happen," said Mike Miller, spokesman for Kent's Citizens Advisory Committee and senior vice president of Valley Bank.

But lately, the landscape has changed. After several weeks of discussion, Amiga signed on for the naming rights to the center. Gov. Christine Gregoire included $3 million in her proposed budget. And while the Legislature has decided not to vote this session on funding for a proposed Sonics arena in Renton, the House and Senate have both passed legislation that would provide Kent with the funding it needs to build its own events center.

The city now awaits final approval before the session ends this weekend.

Over the past year, residents have raised concerns about everything from traffic congestion to the location of the events center, which would stand on the Commons Playfield, where youth sports teams currently practice and play.

City officials said they have tried to address those concerns, planning for additional traffic signals and signage, and moving up the time of weeknight events to avoid the city's rush hour. They have also worked with the school district on a plan to upgrade new fields at Kent-Meridian High School and the former Sequoia Middle School.

Still, Councilman Bob O'Brien said he would rather see Kent pursue money from the state for basic services, like road improvements. At certain points during the day, he said, the roads in Kent are overwhelmed with traffic.

"You can't get through the city," O'Brien said recently. "That's what we should work on."

But on Tuesday, a day after the Legislature threw the Sonics' fate up in the air again, Russ Farwell, president and general manager of the Seattle Thunderbirds, praised the progress the city had made. His team lobbied Kent hard to become the event center's anchor tenant, wanting to move from what they described as an outdated rink at KeyArena.

"Right now, we couldn't be more excited," Farwell said. "We've worked really hard to stay in this region."

Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com