ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Anaheim Comes to Grips With Reality

Anaheim won the race with Santa Ana to build a premier indoor arena in Orange County. But what price victory? It now finds itself alone near the finish, left to wonder whether the absent competition knew something.

As its impressive structure rises on the skyline above the Orange Freeway near Anaheim Stadium, the city that is home to the Magic Kingdom acknowledged last week that it has yet to find stardust. The arena will have to open next year without a professional basketball team.

This cannot have been any surprise, but neither was it so long ago that Mayor Fred Hunter declared that Anaheim was on its way to becoming the “sports capital of America.” The city stubbornly turned a deaf ear to Cassandras, even as recession loomed and other cities fought to retain franchises. Anaheim pressed on through lawsuits and knowing that it could be stuck with a $2.5-million-a-year liability.

It was always part of the deal with project partners Ogden Corp. and the Nederlander Organization that the city would have to bring in two professional sports teams to be absolved of its financial obligations. But one resident realist, City Manager James D. Ruth, now has acknowledged at least that a basketball team may not be brought in until the second or third year of operation. There is still hopeful anticipation of a National Hockey League franchise, but the developer who dropped out in Santa Ana did so saying the county did not have much chance of attracting indoor sports.

Now that caution at last has taken root in Anaheim, the city should do what it can to ease the burden of uncovered bills. It must redouble its efforts to lure franchises, of course, but it must also consider realistically the alternatives. It should nail down some Los Angeles Clippers games, and bring in more prep or college tournaments. A few games on the calendar are a few better than none.