Next chapter for Elmira's First Arena: New hockey team, new management plan, more events
Elmira's troubled First Arena, which has gone through multiple management changes in its turbulent 23-year history, is moving forward with a new structure officials hope will finally address issues that have dogged the facility since it opened.
The Chemung County Industrial Development Agency, which owns the arena, has decided to go in an entirely new direction since parting ways this spring with Tadross Donner Sports and Entertainment LLC, which signed a five-year lease with the IDA in late 2021.
Under the new plan, the arena will have a new minor league hockey team — the fourth since it opened under the name Coach USA Center in 2000 — and the IDA will retain tighter control through a hand-picked team that will manage every aspect of the facility and answer directly to IDA leadership.
"Do we want to be in the real estate business? No, but there's been no option to sell the facility," said IDA Chairman Mark Margeson, who also chairs the Chemung County Legislature.
"In 22 years, the county and the IDA have never gotten any income out of the facility, and the infrastructure has been totally destroyed," Margeson said. "Since the IDA took ownership of the arena, no good management system has been in place. Hockey only cares about hockey. If you aren't generating income to keep up the infrastructure, sooner or later it falls apart."
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In the past, management of hockey teams that played at the arena — including the Jackals, Enforcers, and most recently, under the leadership of Tadross Donner, the Mammoth — also played a central role in operating the entire facility.
Tadross Donner partner Steve Donner was also CEO of the Mammoth.
Things will be different when a new team, the Elmira River Sharks, launches its inaugural season in October, Margeson said.
The River Sharks are part of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, which also has teams in Binghamton, Watertown, Danbury, Connecticut and Wytheville, Virginia.
Hockey will be an important part of First Arena's offerings, but it won't be the dominant piece, Margeson said.
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The River Sharks will be a tenant, and the as yet unnamed management team will oversee every aspect of the arena, including upgrading the aging heating system, ice plant and other infrastructure, booking other types of events, and controlling the finances.
"It's always been just hockey, nothing for anybody else," Margeson said. "We have a group of five people the IDA has worked with, with prior experience with past (arena) groups. We haven't announced the team yet. It's a challenge to get this thing going again."
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira's First Arena has a new hockey team and management strategy
