This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Sonics Arena: Imagining the possibilities

My thoughts about the benefits of a new basketball/hockey arena that will bring back the Sonics.

With the home stretch pending for the Seattle City Council to vote on the MOU between Chris Hansen and his investment team on the proposed SODO arena in the near Safeco and Century Link Field.

It leads me to think about the journey to this point and the possibilities moving forward.

First, thank you to Chris Hansen, for having the vision and determination to want to bring back a 41 year legacy that was the Supersonics to this area and also the northwest region in general.

Find out what's happening in Sammamish-Issaquahwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While the professional teams in this area have the name Seattle, teams like the Seahawks, Mariners, and Sounders FC they transcend an entire northwest region. That to me is why this is so important. This is about investing in ourselves and reestablishing Seattle as a World-Class Sports City by bringing the NBA back, bringing the NHL down the road. Also, it sets the tone for bringing arguably the best sporting event on the planet the NCAA Basketball Tournament back to Seattle instead of Spokane, Boise, and Portland.

In addition, bringing the NBA back would only further galvanize the local media like SportsRadio KJR, you can tell by listening to the station that it has brought an extra energized focus from Mitch,Dick Fain, Softy, the Furness Show, and Gas and Elise in taking a leadership role in getting citizens to email local politicians in stating their views in support of the arena.

Find out what's happening in Sammamish-Issaquahwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

More importantly, building this arena just provides an opportunity for mothers and fathers to take their children and grand children etc to create new memories of going to games, and give kids more athletes to look up and be more active in sports at the youth level if they aren't doing so already.

Are the challenges with traffic, and the Port sure, should Chris Hansen be responsible for fixing all of it absolutely not? In the end, I just sincerely hope the Seattle City Council does the right thing and shows the commitment to uncompromised excellence by believing in the sports fans of the region.

Thank you Chris Hansen, Thank you KJR, and Thank you to everyone who has been writing council members , going to meetings, and trying to get the Sonics back for future generations like my nephews and my 16 month niece to enjoy for years and years to come. I am very thinking very positively this will get done because this is an incredible opportunity for this area to get the Sonics back.

Β 

Sincerely,

Scott Whittum

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Sammamish-Issaquah