Will Blast get blasted away?

That is the issue facing the local Major Indoor Soccer League franchise if its home facility ? 1st Mariner Arena ? is demolished in favor of a new facility in the current arena footprint.

“We would go out of business,” Blast investor/operator Ed Hale said.

Hale estimated that, if the current arena were to be torn down in favor of a new facility in the same location, it could take up to five years for the new one to be complete.

“I just believe that it would be very hard to resurrect it after that time,” Hale said. “What would I do with the people that work for me?”

A Maryland Stadium Authority feasibility study presented Monday said 1st Mariner Arena is “operationally inefficient and increasingly obsolete.” The study also estimated that a new arena could be done within three years at a cost of $128-160 million. It did not, however, examine any potential sites other than that of the existing arena.

Last month, Hale told The Examiner he?d like to see a new 12,000- to 15,000-seat arena be built just off Interstate 95 in Canton within five years. Hale owns the advertising and naming rights to 1st Mariner Arena, an 11,286-seat facility built in 1963.

Hale said he?s looked into the feasibility of his team playing at any of the local colleges around the beltway, but that it?s unlikely that any of those facilities would suffice. Neither would Canton?s Clarence “Du” Burns Arena, where the Blast trains and the team?s front office is located.

Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, said in a release that “all options should be explored … although the downtown and stadium district have obvious advantages.”

The arena needs private funding, and Hale is more than willing to pitch in for his Canton proposal.

“I have given this a lot of thought since 1988,” Hale said.

The study released Monday morning also confirmed Hale?s opinion that the Baltimore market does not demand an NBA or NHL franchise.