Partner Joins Anaheim in Arena Derby

The race between two Orange County cities to build a sports arena heated up Tuesday as a major New York firm said it plans to build a 20,000-seat arena in Anaheim for $85 million.

Ogden Corp. said it has signed a letter of intent with the city of Anaheim to build and operate the arena, with completion scheduled for 1991.

The announcement comes a week after neighboring Santa Ana announced that entertainment giant MCA Inc. had joined a partnership planning to build a $75-million arena in that city.

“I think the announcement from Ogden gives us a major boost,” said Jim Ruth, Anaheim’s assistant city manager. “We’ve got a consensus on most of the major issues.”

Santa Ana’s announcement said that ground breaking would take place in early 1990. But Maria Monet, Ogden’s chief financial officer, said ground breaking for the Anaheim project could take place before the end of this year.

The question of which city can break ground first is viewed as crucial, since it would presumably make it easier to attract a professional sports franchise.

Despite comments at the end of last week from two of the Santa Ana partners, Spectacor and MCA, indicating that the deal for the Santa Ana arena might not be firm, Santa Ana City Councilman Miguel A. Pulido said Tuesday: “We are still a team. . . . The near future will show how strong that team is.”

And Pulido indicated that Santa Ana may still be ahead in the race to build a major sports and entertainment facility. “Yes, it is a competitive situation, but we’ve got everything they’ve got, plus we have the land.”

Anaheim still lacks a site for its arena and is negotiating with a private club to purchase land along the Santa Ana River.

Ruth said Anaheim is hoping to buy a seven-acre parcel from the club and should be able to issue a lease document within a few weeks.

Backers of both projects say they plan to attract franchises from the National Basketball Assn. and the National Hockey League. The general managing partner of the Santa Ana project, Spectacor Management Group, is part of the company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. In addition, MCA and Spectacor are private managers of the Los Angeles Sports Arena, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, an NBA franchise.

Santa Ana officials said last week that MCA’s ties to big-name performers would help the arena turn a profit even without a sports team. Monet said the Nederlander organization, which books such acts as Diana Ross and the Rolling Stones, will provide bookings for the Anaheim arena.

Spectacor Management describes itself as the largest operator of sports and entertainment facilities in the world. Ogden provides concessions at major arenas, including the New Orleans Superdome, the Seattle Kingdome and the Forum in Inglewood.

Ogden is a publicly held, diversified services firm with 1988 revenues of about $1 billion.