By Rebecca Roussell
NYT Institute

The City of New Orleans is planning to build a $6.5 million new training facility for the New Orleans Hornets basketball team, just a few months after the team posted one of the worst records and the lowest fan attendance in the NBA last season.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin and George Shinn, owner of the Hornets, signed a letter of intent for a new training facility to be built next to their current game-day home in the New Orleans Arena.

The agreement calls for the city to provide construction funding for the facility, as well as granting the Hornets free rent in the building for a decade, as long as the team remains in New Orleans.

If the team moves before then, its owners will be forced to refund $650,000 for every year remaining under the 10-year deal. After the initial 10-year lease expires, the team will pay only $1,000 in rent per year to the city.

The practice center is to be built on state-owned property located on the boundaries of Girod, LaSalle and Julia streets by the property occupied by the New Orleans Centre Parking Garage.

The city will take a 99-year ground lease on the land from the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, and then lease the new facility to the Hornets.

Construction plans have not yet been finalized and no groundbreaking date has been set, said Tim Coulon, chairman of the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District.

Facility plans have been outlined, but there is no certain date on when the production of the facilities will begin, according to Coulon.

Coulon also mentioned that his agency was not a part of the talks between the Hornets and the city.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin called the deal “a great day for the city” and the team, but officials contacted in his office could not provide more details. Calls to the Hornets were not returned yesterday.

The deal could wind up boosting the eastern New Orleans community, even as it takes the Hornets’ practices away from another local neighborhood.

The agreement also calls for the Hornets to build a $2.5 million community center in east New Orleans on land donated by Six Flags New Orleans (formerly known as Jazzland). The center is proposed to host various sporting events ranging from basketball to volleyball and other events which may require indoor facilities.

Since their move from Charlotte, N.C., in 2002, the Hornets have practiced in the John A. Alario Sr. Events Center, located on the Westbank of New Orleans. The new deal will take the team’s presence out of Jefferson Parish, where the center is located.

Jackie Bauer, a parish spokeswoman, said that the parish did not provide any financial support to the team to lure them to have practices there.

“This was always temporary until New Orleans found a home for them,” said Bauer.