Funding Secured For Louisville Arena

Nearly $350 million in bonds have been sold for Louisville’s new downtown arena.Funding for the project collapsed in July when Moody’s credit rating agency warned that the bonds’ insurer might have its rating downgraded. That didn’t happen, and the Arena Authority decided to stay with the insurer for the project.Authority Chairman Jim Host says he hopes to secure naming rights next.“Now that we’ve gotten the finance package done we have three groups that are very interested in naming rights who are waiting until we got construction started before they were ready to step forward,” he says.Host says he hopes to get at least $40 million for the naming rights. The arena is set to open in the fall of 2010.