Seattle mayor says arena will be ready for NHL team by 2020

NHL-Seattle-Mayor-speaks-with-media-after-meeting-with-NHL

Seattle Hockey Partners David Bonderman, left, and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan talk to the media. (Mark Lennihan/AP)

Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan says the city will be well-prepared if the NHL’s Board of Governors votes in favour of granting the metropolis an NHL expansion franchise.

A $700-million renovation plan for Seattle’s KeyArena was approved by city council in September. According to Durkan, the arena will be ready to host an NHL team by 2020.

“We think it can and so does (Oak View Group),” Durkan told Seattle’s K5 news. “Every major project there’s surprises, things you don’t plan for and can’t expect, and we know that, and try to build in those contingencies. But our plan is to open in 2020.

“We want it; they want it. I think we are going to have the best arena, I think, in America.”

While the arena may be ready by 2020, the league hasn’t yet officially signed off on adding a 32nd team. A vote on the proposal is expected to take place during the Board of Governors meeting next week in Georgia.

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