A big assist, for Glens Falls on Friday. The Adirondack Phantoms Hockey Team announced it will be staying in the city, and quite possibly going much more high-tech.
"I think it's gonna do great things for the city," Richard Derbyshire of Queensbury said.
And the main goal, is to help give local businesses, a boost.
The Phantoms have agreed to stay in Glens Falls at least through the 2012-2013 season.
And the good news for hockey fans doesn't stop there.
There's a plan in the works to give the Glens Falls Civic Center a much needed $450,000 upgrade.
And thanks to a collaborative effort by the Phantoms, the county, and the Civic Center Foundation, if it gets the green light at the Glens Falls Common Council meeting on Tuesday, the arena will soon look and sound high-tech.
On Friday, the city administration, and team owners made a proud announcement. The Phantoms will stay for at least another two years.
Mayor Jack Diamond said, "Forty nights a year, we employ 70 people, that's significant. We generate a positive cash flow after every event, those 70 people they get disposable money, the people that come into this building are spending money, so it's really a positive thing, not just for hockey fans, but for the city."
And that's unbelievably good news for the Bullpen sports bar on Glen Street. The bartender there welcomes more Phantoms hockey, and more fans to keep the business up and running.
Dan McGuire said, "Whenever there's an event at the Civic Center, we always get some kind of crowd before and after, mostly after the games we get a really good crowd. We always have extra staff on to help out, it's great. We love it."
But the arena itself could use an upgrade. The current speakers have been providing announcements since the Civic Center was built in 1979, and noticeably absent from the rafters are the huge video screens we've come to expect at an arena.
And if the Glens Falls Common Council approves a new plan, the arena will look and sound much better by this October.
Ed Bartholomew is the Director of Economic and Community Development in the city. He is excited about the potential changes to the Civic Center. He said, "It's important as we go into 2011, that we have the video experience, as Mayor Diamond referred to as well as being able to understand our public address system. It's just terrible acoustics."
Hockey fans and city residents say they're happy to hear that the Phantoms have committed to Glens Falls, and that Glens Falls has committed to the Phantoms
Glens Falls resident Paul Guillet said, "Well, one helps the other. If you have businesses down here people come, but whatever helps people come, gets more businesses down here too."
His wife Jill said, "I think it's great. Our kids, they love to go to the game, it's a great night out."
Derbyshire agrees. He said, "This is really good. You know, AHL hockey, you can't beat that. It's right under pro hockey and these guys are going to go right there, so it's gonna be great for the town."
Mayor Diamond says he's confident he has the necessary support in the Glens Falls Common Council to get the $150,000 for civic center upgrades, approved.
The good news is that it may only cost taxpayers half that.
The city plans to sell ad space on the actual video screens, and ads that will play during the game to defray the cost.
