The owner of the Baltimore Blast said the soccer team would be “out of business” if a replacement for the aging 1st Mariner Arena is constructed at the venue?s current downtown site.
In a report published today in the Baltimore Business Journal, unnamed sources said city and state officials have selected the arena?s current site for the new project. Members of nine-person panel overseeingthe project could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.
Construction of a new arena at the site could take between three and five years, Hale said, and would leave the Blast without a home venue.
“For all intents and purposes it puts us out of business,” said Hale, investor and operator of the team. “In some cases, on special nights, we would have 11,000 people there there?s no place around for us to go.”
Hale said this morning he has not heard official word from the panel about a decision on the arena. However, Hale said a meeting with city officials was scheduled on Thursday. He said the purpose of that meeting was not immediately clear.
