Sacramento Kings' owners propose renovating old arena

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NEW YORK, April 13 (UPI) -- The owners of the Sacramento Kings called the city's plan for a new arena unworkable Friday and proposed instead to renovate the team's current home.

George Maloof, co-owner with members of his family, told reporters in New York that Power Balance Pavilion, formerly known as Arco Arena, should be kept in the mix and could be upgraded to necessary standards.

"Why don't we look at redoing Power Balance?" Maloof said. "Most of our customers enjoy going to Power Balance. ... It just seems more natural."

The Sacramento Bee said Maloof's proposal was a major departure from the notion that the Power Balance facility was obsolete and needed to be replaced by a new building in the downtown Railyard area. The Kings last year even explored the possibility of moving to Anaheim rather than continue in their current digs.

City officials in recent months pulled together a plan to build a new arena that would keep the Kings in Sacramento, but the Maloofs Friday released a study by an economic consulting firm questioning whether the financing of the project would work.

The report concluded the projections of attendance at Kings games and the economic benefits the arena would provide for the city were too optimistic and could result in economic disaster for both the team and the community.

The Maloofs said they were not trying to back out of the Railyard project but would not sign off on it without further negotiations with the city, the Bee said.

"Our intention has been to get this deal done, not to kill the deal," Maloof said. "At this point, how do we negotiate when we don't hear back from the city?"