New York Group Shows Interest in CSUN Sports Arena

Cal State Northridge administrators are working with a New York-based conglomerate, gathering information that may lead to a joint venture in the construction and management of a multiple-purpose sports arena on the CSUN campus.

Representatives from the Ogden Corp., which manages concessions at major sports arenas nationwide, including the Forum, have met twice with school officials since the start of the year, Elliot Mininberg, vice president for administration at Northridge, said Tuesday.

CSUN is scheduled to jump to NCAA Division I in athletics in September, 1990. The Matadors currently play at the Division II level, using the school’s 3,000-seat gymnasium as their home court for men’s and women’s basketball games and volleyball matches.

The extent of Ogden’s interest in financing an arena will depend largely on a feasibility study by Ogden that is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Northridge first must compile information on its past attendance figures and concession sales and formulate future projections in those areas. Also under scrutiny will be the school’s need of home dates for athletic events and practices. It is expected to take two weeks to gather the information.

Ogden’s subsidiaries are capable of handling everything from building and financing the proposed complex to managing the facility. Ogden Financial has the capability to finance the project, with Ogden Projects doing the construction and Ogden Allied handling management and concessions responsibilities.

“It’s a total, full-service project,” said a member of Ogden’s management team who spoke on the condition his name not be used.

Mininberg said that Northridge and Ogden were brought together by the architectural, engineering and planning firm of Howard, Needles, Tammen and Bergendoff. HNTB has been involved in the design and construction of the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Mo.; Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands, N. J., and more than 50 other sports facilities.

Ogden has been particularly active on the West Coast lately. It already has secured the exclusive rights to build an arena in Anaheim and has made a bid to do the same in San Francisco.

“We’re hopeful that their review will result in continuing interest on their part and the opportunity to realize a first-class arena on this campus in less time than it might take us if we were forced to go independently,” Mininberg said.

The school would prefer to finance construction of an arena with private donations, which would allow exclusive use by Northridge teams with less regard to profitability. The odds on that happening, however, are close to zero.

“I don’t think it’s a closed door,” Mininberg said, “but our ability to accomplish something like that in the matter of a short time is somewhat remote.”

Better are the chances that Northridge will ask for public donations to supplement a partial offer of financing by Ogden.

“We are, in fact, talking to some people of significant wealth who have interest in the university,” Mininberg said. “To accomplish a first-grade arena of the quality that Ogden is looking at, I don’t think we can do it without some outside assistance.”

In addition, state money might become available for the project if classrooms and office space are incorporated into the complex.

“If we get some folks like Ogden interested to help capitalize this, and some private donations, and the state’s appropriation process to participate, then we have more than a lick and a promise of getting this thing done in a reasonable amount of time,” Mininberg said.

That’s three big “ifs,” if you’re keeping score, but school officials seem to reason that they will be better for the experience even if Ogden’s interest wanes.

At least they will have a professional opinion about the obstacles that lie ahead.

“Right now we know in a generic sense that we need a facility, but we don’t have a good sense about what size it should be in order to pay for itself,” Mininberg said. “Hopefully, they can give us a clear focus on the total cost, which will give us an idea of what we need to attract from the state and from our private donor’s list.”

The arena project, considered little more than a pipe dream only a few months ago, is now considered vital for the school’s ever-improving image.

Or, as Mininberg put it, “This is a step toward becoming first-rate athletically, which we feel will lend itself to a quality surge in the academic environment as well.”