Casino arena deal in place
Taxpayer-subsidized facility will be home to Union College’s hockey teams
SCHENECTADY — Officials say a deal has been finalized to build a $50 million arena next to Rivers Casino & Resort that will serve as home ice for Union College’s hockey teams.
The $50 million project will be built with $10 million from the state, $5 million from Schenectady County, $2.5 million from the city of Schenectady and $1 million from retired Price Chopper CEO Neil Golub.
The Galesi Group plans to fund the remainder of the arena’s cost with the college expected to contribute $20 million in rent over the next 25 years. The arena will host the college’s Division 1 men’s and women’s hockey teams, other athletic programs and entertainment.
“We’re going to go after trade shows, we’re going to go after other sporting events, we can go after conventions. This enables us to compete with some of the other casinos as well,” said David Buicko, president and CEO of the Galesi Group, adding that the size of Rivers Casino & Resort has limited its ability to host conventions.
Buicko said the real estate firm plans to use its own funds and secure financing from Buffalo-based M&T Bank to cover the remaining project costs. He said he hopes the planned venue will attract visitors to the casino and neighboring Mohawk Harbor complex of condominiums, hotels, restaurants and offices— all developed by Galesi. Even so, he said that he does not view the upcoming arena as a “profit center.”
“I’m looking at this thing as a facility that the community benefits (from), whether it’s the city of Schenectady, the county, the hotels in the region, the restaurants in the region,” Buicko said.
The 97,178-square-foot arena will seat 2,200 for hockey and up to 3,600 for other types of entertainment. It will be built about two blocks from the college and officials said it should be open in time for the 2025-26 season.
“This arena represents the start of an exciting new chapter in the storied history of Union hockey,” College President David R. Harris said in a prepared statement released by the Metroplex Development Authority. “Just as importantly, the facility will be a tremendous community asset that will strengthen Schenectady and the region for decades to come.”
Construction of the arena has been under negotiations for years. Union College’s hockey teams — including the 2014 men’s NCAA national hockey champions — have played on campus at the Frank L. Messa Rink at Achilles Center since it was built in 1975.
Buicko called that arena “functionally obsolete.”
According to Athletic Director Jim Mclaughlin, Union College plans to convert the current rink into an indoor turf practice facility for programs such as soccer, lacrosse, baseball and softball, along with general recreational activities. He said officials plan to start the conversion in 2026.
“In January, when it’s 10 degrees out and we can’t go outside, they’ll be able to practice inside on a surface that is the same that they play and compete on,” Mclaughlin said.
The Mohawk Harbor complex was built on a former brownfield site along the Mohawk River that sat mostly fallow for decades after the American Locomotive Co. left Schenectady.
Plans for the new arena have been controversial. Last week, Mayor Gary Mccarthy acknowledged that the agreement between the city and West Yard Properties, a subsidiary of the Galesi Group, was already in place before the City Council convened to discuss the use of $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the project. City Council President Marion Porterfield said it was disrespectful of the mayor to keep the deal a secret from them while they deliberated the pros and cons of spending ARPA funds on the project.
Galesi officials said as well as hockey games, the center could host events for children and high schoolers and would attract visitors to the nearby casino and harbor.
The venue is too small for arena football but Galesi and its business partners said they have been approached by a couple of professional sports teams and that the venue would make perfect sense for trade shows, conferences and as a place for trade unions to convene for annual gatherings. The project uses a payment-in-lieu-oftaxes structure.
The arena will be built about a mile from Proctors in downtown Schenectady.
When the state began deliberations to allow casinos in New York, local entertainment venues were promised competing locations would not be built at gambling halls. A coalition of upstate arts and entertainment venues, including Proctors, touted agreements with the casino operators that protected them from the threat that venues larger than 1,000 seats would be built at the casinos. The arena will be built on non-casino land.
Proctors CEO Philip Morris last year said he did not object to the arena, saying he’d been told it would mostly serve as an athletic facility for Union’s teams and as a location for youth sports when not in use by the college.