According to Edwin Hale Jr., the perfect vision is 2012.
The investor and operator of the Baltimore Blast and the chairman and chief executive officer of 1st Mariner Bank told The Examiner on Tuesday that it is his goal to have a new arena built in eastern Baltimore within five years.
“I could only give you a guess, and that?s five years out,” Hale said. “But time is of the essence because [1st Mariner Arena] has some structural problems. Some capital expenditures need to be made to keep that thing alive for a while. So it?s time. The time is now.”
Hale?s 1st Mariner Bank owns the naming and advertising rights of Baltimore?s current 11,286-seat arena, which was built when he was a high school junior in 1963.
“I think that SMG does an unbelievable job managing that place,” Hale said of the company that manages the arena, where he grew up watching Bullets basketball and Clippers hockey games.
Hale?s vision is to build a new arena on a 28-acre plot of land just east of his current Canton development project.
“I don?t believe the NHL and NBA work here in Baltimore,” he said. “So I think 12 to 15,000 seats works.”
In a recent interview with The Examiner, architect Ben Barnert of HOK Sport, the firm that designed Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, said a new arena project in Baltimore would be “challenging” and would need significant corporate participation. Hale said he?d like to be part of a three-headed funding monster for an arena, combining with local government and a major concessions company.
“I don?t know of anyone else from the private sector that is looking at this,” Hale said.
Hale is in constant negotiations to purchase the 28-acre tract of land, currently owned by Exxon, located just off Boston Street. He noted that the Boston Street exit on I-95 would need an upgrade, and that a bridge would likely need to be built over the train tracks that run perpendicular to Boston Street, to alleviate any traffic concerns.
“I?m working on that. It would be a great site for an arena, right on I-95 and 895,” Hale said. “You take 30 seconds off, buzz right in. You?re right there. It?s much like a lot of arenas are all over the country.”
