HARTFORD, Conn. -- Eight years after the Whalers left Hartford for North Carolina, a developer wants to bring another NHL team to the Connecticut capital.
Lawrence Gottesdiener is head of Northland Investment Corp.,
which owns $500 million worth of property in Hartford. He would
like to put the team in a $250 million arena he hopes to build.
"We've got our own money, we're willing to invest in an arena
and we're willing to buy a team," he said. "It would be an
important entity and symbol of the city, the region and the
state."
Gottesdiener's plan calls for a publicly subsidized, 16,000-seat
venue that would be home to a major hockey team. The University of
Connecticut men's and women's basketball teams also would play some
games there.
The new arena would replace the Hartford Civic Center under the
proposal, which was announced Wednesday amid talk of the Civic
Center's future.