MacArthur-Main Site Favored for Arena

The effort to find a place for Westdome--a proposed 20,500-seat arena in Santa Ana--is almost over, says the chairman of a committee that has narrowed selections to three sites, with a 52-acre farm at MacArthur Boulevard and Main Street the leading candidate.

Representatives of Kayser-Marston, a financial consulting firm hired to compile financial feasibility studies of the three sites, will present their findings to the 20-member committee on Thursday, city project manager Robyn Simpson said.

Chairman John E. Stevens said he hopes the committee will be able to make its final recommendation at that meeting.

Second choice to the MacArthur-Main property, owned by Sakioka Farms, is a 25-acre site at Grand Avenue and St. Gertrude Place and the third is a parcel at Main Street and Owens Drive, Stevens said.

The committee has been given a deadline of April 21 to make its final proposal to the City Council. This would allow time to compile an environmental impact study before a final council vote in September. Stevens said the committee will make one recommendation rather than submit two or three.

“I feel that our charge was to come up with the single most feasible site, but it’s going to have to be something the city can live with financially,” he said. “So if (the Sakioka property) just isn’t a go financially, then we’ll drop that from the list and go to No. 2.”

One problem with the MacArthur-Main site is the size of the property, he said. An arena would only require about 17 acres, so the city and the developers--who hope to attract a professional basketball team to play there--would have to work out a deal to purchase only a portion of the site.

The City Council approved $40 million in bond financing for a downtown site last year but then rejected that plan in the face of mounting opposition from residents who cited traffic, parking and noise concerns. Shortly after the rejection, the council voted to form the committee.

Don Oliphant, one of the four Westdome partners, said he wouldn’t say which sites the developers favor, adding that he doesn’t see any major problems with the three selections at this stage. “I think the council will get behind the committee’s recommendation,” he added.