The Louisville Arena Authority is expected to take a major step this week toward construction of a new 22,000 seat facility at Second and Main Streets.Barring any market disruptions, the authority is expected to receive more than $340 million from the sale of bonds for the project.The previous financing plan fell through at the last minute a month ago after the authority's bond insurer faced a possible downgrade of its credit rating.The authority will hold a special meeting Wednesday at 3:00pm to finalize the new plan.Meanwhile, authority member Dan Ulmer says talks continue on naming rights for the facility."They're still discussing it, the marketing people, it's a totally different project, and they're out selling every day. But let me say you can sell a lot easier when you know the money's in the bank and we're going, and the site's cleared," Ulmer said last week.The new arena, which will have the University of Louisville as its primary tenant, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.
