Fans Gather At City Hall In A Show Of Support For Arena Deal
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Big crowds gathered at Sacramento city hall ahead of tonight's vote on a downtown arena proposal aimed at keeping the Kings in Sacramento.
Dozens of fans came to the city council chamber in hopes the vote will pass. They want to show the city council they think this public-private partnership is a good idea.
The city council meeting starts at 6 p.m., but fans came out hours in advance. Many of the fans are with the group Crown Downtown, who say the arena has a lot to do with the economy -– more than just sports and sports fans.
"The Kings give us a chance to build that new arena downtown," said Tim Ghiorso, Crown Downtown member. "Without the Kings you lose that big incentive to build a downtown arena, which would bring a lot of national pride and a lot of, you know, national image to our city. So it's an opportunity, really is what it is."
And tonight's meeting is an opportunity for Crown Downtown to come and make their voices heard.
"We want to support our city. We know what this means to our city. The Kings are a big ticket. The first thing people think of from out-of-town other than being the capital city when they think Sacramento, California," said another Crown Downtown member. "We support voting for the arena. We know it will do up the whole K Street block all the way to the convention center. We want to see our city blow up and be a major city, metropolitan city.
Although the public portion of tonight's meeting begins at 6 p.m., a mayor's spokesman says the vote could happen as late as 10 p.m. If there isn't enough seating in the chamber, seating will be provided upstairs from the chamber.
Crowds are expected to only grow larger before the meeting begins.
