Battle for Arena Location Is Joined

Louisville Courier-Journal:

In a rebuke of the Kentucky House, the Senate yesterday voted unanimously to strike language from a budget bill that would require an arena in downtown Louisville to be on the old water company block.

If the House rejects those changes, it would set up a showdown over the project's location in a conference committee of House and Senate members.

The Senate spending plan approves $75 million in state-issued bonds for a Louisville arena but does not specify a site. A state task force has recommended that the project be built on the riverfront at Second and Main streets.

The waterfront arena has the support of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Mayor Jerry Abramson and the University of Louisville, whose basketball programs would be the chief tenants.