Burbank Picks 3 Sites for Possible Sports Arena : Basketball: The city hopes to persuade the Los Angeles Clippers to move to the planned 20,000-seat facility.

The city of Burbank and a developer have selected three sites in the city for a proposed 20,000-seat sports arena that they hope the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team will make their new home.

The basketball team has said it would move from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Exposition Park unless that facility is rebuilt. The team is also considering a site near Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

The announcement of the three possible Burbank sites this week came after nearly a year of study by city officials and a group of investors headed by developer Lew Wolff, City Manager Robert Ovrom said.

One site under consideration for the $100-million arena is at Victory Place and Empire Avenue near a proposed Wal-Mart superstore; another is on Hollywood Way next to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasade na Airport, and the third is at Burbank Boulevard and the Golden State Freeway. The third site was vacated by the Zero Corp. this year and also has been offered to Fox Studios as a possible location for a new headquarters.

Harley Frankel, executive vice president of the Clippers, did not return phone calls from The Times on Friday. Frankel said earlier that the team will decide where it will move by the end of the year.

He has said the team wants a completely new building and would only stay at the Sports Arena if it is gutted and rebuilt or if a new arena is built nearby.

Wolff said Friday that it is unlikely an arena will be built in Burbank if the Clippers do not move there.

“We’re only focusing on having a major team there--the only one we’re talking to now is the Clippers,” Wolff said.

The Burbank City Council recently gave Wolff and his partners rights for three years to develop plans to build an indoor arena for sporting and entertainment events.

Wolff, who developed the Burbank Airport Hilton, has lined up several high-powered partners for the project, including actor-investor Wayne Rogers, who co-starred in the “MASH” television series, and the Warner Bros. entertainment company.

BURBANK WOOS FOX: B1