The Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League proposed development of an 8,600 seat arena with three community ice sheets in Greeley, Colorado. The arena complex would be one of the key features of a 5,000 acre development project.
According to an article written by Christine Kapperman for 99.9 The Point, “the Greeley City Council met, commented and voted unanimously to have the city explore the viability of the vision {Colorado Eagles owner Martin} Lind hopes will come to life at U.S. 34 and County Road 17.”
The larger development project, which is called “The West Side Project” in documents presented to the city council, also calls for the construction of a larger entertainment district, retail stores, at least one hotel, and “mixed-income and affordable housing.”
The Colorado Eagles currently play in Loveland at Blue Arena. Greeley is located about half an hour east of Loveland by car, and 75 minutes by car northeast of Denver.
Some people on social media questioned the idea of building such a significant project in Greeley. The population of Greeley was 108,795 according to the 2020 Census. However, Greeley is growing rapidly, in part because water is more available than in some areas of Northern Colorado. This is a serious concern in some parts of Colorado east of the Front Range.
Greeley is also a regional center of the livestock industry. There are quite a few cattle ranches and businesses that serve that industry in the Greeley area.