New arena for Red Wings in downtown Detroit in the works

The Red Wings and the city of Detroit have the framework for a deal on a new $650 million downtown arena for the franchise.

By Brian Stubits

Jun 19, 2013 at 11:20 am ET • 1 min read

Joe Louis Arena has seen a lot of great players come through in its time. (USATSI) — Joe Louis Arena has seen a lot of great players come through during its time. (USATSI)

The Detroit Red Wings look like they are finally going to get a new arena.

The fabled Joe Louis Arena has been their home for many moons but the old barn has become outdated in today's NHL. The Wings and owner Mike Ilitch have been attempting for some time to secure a new arena in downtown Detroit and on Wednesday it was announced they have succeeded. Or at least there is a memorandum of understanding and the framework is there.

From Click On Detroit:

Detroit's Downtown Development Authority outlined the plan Wednesday, saying the project would cost an estimated $650 million.

The plan is subject to approval by Wayne County -- $365 million would be funded through private investment and the remaining $285 million in public investment.

The arena would seat 18,000 and cost $450 million alone. It would include a 10,000-square-foot retail space, office space and a parking garage.

Nobody ever said building a new, state-of-the-art arena would come cheap. But it is nice to see there will be such a large private investment coming for the new arena. It's just as nice to see that the Wings won't be shipping off to the suburbs or anything; they will get their wish and stay downtown.

Again, this doesn't come from out of the blue. The Wings had been working on this for a while. It was reported last year that the Wings had hired an architect to begin designing a new arena, now they have the funding and such to make it a reality.

The new arena deal is still not set in stone and there are more steps that have to be taken, but the fact that the Downtown Detroit Development Authority approved the plan is a huge step.

It will be sad to see the Joe go. It's been the site of so many great games and teams over its 34 years -- so far. But a new arena will do the franchise good, and the fan experience. Not to mention the on-ice reporters are probably thrilled at this development. The Joe wasn't exactly welcoming to their profession -- the space between the benches was always just a bit cramped.