ELMIRA, NY (WENY) - The Chemung County Industrial Development Agency announced its plans for First Arena. The CCIDA and new leaseholders held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to share plans for the facility. 

Tadross Donner Sports & Entertainment, LLC, signed a 5-year lease with the IDA on November 23rd. The deal highlights First Arena’s mission to turn the building into a multipurpose entertainment venue.  

The new lease entails a reconstruction plan for the facility. The proposal takes proceeds from future events and puts them into the Capital Improvement Fund. This fund was built to pump money earned from the arena back into itself for repairs. This comes after a long summer for First Arena; who’s future was in question with required maintenance and no leaseholder. 

Executive Director of CCIDA Joe Roman showed confidence in Tadross Donner Sports & Entertainment to run the show. He feels the fund put in place will make First Arena a one-stop shop for all things entertainment. 

“Every ticket sale, every event, every sports thing that they have in here; there's a fund that's generated on ticket sales that comes back to the IDA at a monthly basis,” Roman said. “That number, could be anywhere up to $1.5 million over the years or higher depending on how well they do.” 

Co-Founder of Tadross Donner Sports & Entertainment, LLC, Steve Donner has high hopes that the arena will be successful in bringing sports back to the community. Donner has over 27 years of experience in sports marketing and management, bringing professional soccer and lacrosse to his hometown of Rochester, NY. He also previously owned the Rochester Americans AHL hockey team. He’s hit the ground running towards bringing professional hockey back to Elmira, with hopes to have a team join the Federal Prospects Hockey League mid-season. 

“We were really close to having it done yesterday, but there were a few kinks,” Donner said. “We're hoping over the next 72 hours we can come back early next week and have an exciting announcement that hockey will be back this year. If not, worst case, will be back next fall.” 

First Arena hopes to first open its recreational skating rink in time for the holiday season. The facility hopes to get ice on the rink by December 12th, and open doors to public events by January 1st, 2022. The arena has already scheduled multiple entertainers (Frank Stallone, Robert Davi, Jon Lovitz, Chris Roach, Mike Eshaq, The Redneck Tenors) to perform at First Arena.