Seattle, Lake Forest Park lawmakers release joint statement on arena proposal

OLYMPIA – On Tuesday, Sen. David Frockt (D-Seattle) representing Lake Forest Park and Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) released the following statement concerning the proposed building of a multi-use arena in South Seattle:

“Today's announcement that a tentative agreement has been reached between the Seattle City Council and Chris Hansen to move forward with an innovative public-private partnership that will bring the Seattle SuperSonics back to our region has brought us great excitement and hope. We appreciate the efforts by City Councilmembers, as well as the investor group, to ensure that this partnership will be an economic success that also provides additional protection for the various stakeholder interests, including the long-term health and vitality of Key Arena, our Port industry, and our environment. 

“We believe this new agreement took what was already a good deal, and improved it considerably through additional revenues designated for improvements to Key Arena and a plan for its future; additional transportation money that will improve the SODO area; and, long-term taxpayer protections once the bonds are paid off. We also greatly appreciate that this agreement does not make funding requests of the state Legislature, and instead utilizes a unique funding mechanism that will enable the arena to be paid off using revenues it generates through its own economic activity. We believe this is a smart approach given the state's budget priorities for our schools, colleges and universities, and essential services. We remain very supportive of the work that has been done to this point and look forward to the continuing public process, which we believe will end in successfully bringing our Seattle SuperSonics back to our region.”