The mantra seems to be if you have an arena it better have an anchor tenant

From the Allentown Morning Call about the Stabler Arena in Allentown PA:

“Location is another problem, said Allentown Fair Marketing Director Bonnie Brosious. The world's largest concert promotion company, Live Nation, which has ties to thousands of the most popular acts, routinely requires those acts to agree not to play any venue within 90 miles of a concert they've booked through Live Nation. While the Valley's proximity to major concert venues in New York, Philadelphia and Hershey puts residents close to the action, it also prevents major acts from coming to the area if they are booked in one of those places, Brosious said.” From:

Goodbye Aerosmith, hello badminton

Once the largest concert venue in the Lehigh Valley, complex courts smaller shows and offbeat competitions

By Matt Assad, OF THE MORNING CALL

June 20, 2010

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-bethlehem-lehigh-stabler-20100620,0,5331429.story?page=1

It seems to me that if you want a performance center you better have an anchor tenant like a minor league team to carry the ball between performances.

The Velodrome plan currently before the Coatesville RDA would act as an anchor tenant to enable musical and theatrical performances of a more intimate variety than Philly, Reading, Allentown and Hershey have.

Maybe most importantly, just as the Lehigh Valley Velodrome does for the Allentown area, a Coatesville Velodrome would serve as a recreational and fitness center for Coatesville and Chester County.

It would also put Coatesville on Google Earth as THE United States East Coast professional bicycling center.

The Pro Cycling Tour wants an indoor Velodrome in South East Pennsylvania.  I get the impression that the primary reason the Pro Cycling Tour has centered on Chester County is because the Chester County Economic Development Council can be their “anchor” financer.  

This is the second time around for the Pro Cycling Tour in Coatesville.  I believe Coatesville’s superb transportation options make us the Pro Cycling Tour’s first choice.

And the “Manayunk Wall” has nothing on Graham Avenue.

I didn’t mention the other presentation at the RDA meeting because it is in the conception stage and the Velodrome is close to completion. But the Velodrome would only help Mr. Jennings plan for a theatrical center. It would broaden the reach of Mr. Jennings’ theater from a local to an international level.

CHESTER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL