Jeff Ward: Build next arena downtown

Regarding the Oct. 28 sports article “Upgrade plan would ‘energize’ PNC Arena”: While this is probably required to keep up with other arenas across the sports universe, I hope the powers-that-be rethink the location of the “next” Raleigh arena when the time comes.

I use Memphis as an example as to where Raleigh could place the next arena, and that is downtown or at least close to it. When the FedEx Forum empties out in Memphis, fans are right in the middle of downtown – what a novel idea!

Why the PNC Arena was built in a cow pasture is beyond me, and don’t make available parking the deciding issue as there are solutions to that.

So in the next 10 years my hope is the city leaders figure out a way to begin the planning for the next arena and give serious consideration to putting it where the current PNC Arena should have been to begin with. So figure out how to do it for the city and most likely make all the N.C. State followers happy as well.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Jeff Ward: Build next arena downtown."