The Lighthouse Project, officially named The Lighthouse at Long Island, was a proposed transformation of the
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, east of New York City. The Long Island venue is approximately east of the eastern limits of the New York City Borough of ...
and the area surrounding it into a modern suburban area. The project was first introduced by
New York Islanders owner
Charles Wang
Charles B. Wang (; August 19, 1944 – October 21, 2018) was a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc. (later renamed CA Technologies). He was a minority owner (and ...
. The base of the project was a newly renovated Coliseum for the New York Islanders to play in. Surrounding the Coliseum would be houses, offices, restaurants, and various stores, as well as Long Island's first
five-star hotel
Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...
. There would also be an athletic complex, conference and exhibition facilities, and a minor league
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
ballpark.
The Lighthouse Project was expected to take 8 to 10 years to be completed, and to cost about $3.74 billion. The investors expected the project to generate $71 million of annual tax revenues, and create about 75,000 construction and construction-related jobs. After the project's completion, 19,000 new permanent jobs were expected to be created.
Many believe the project's approval would have been the only way that Wang would have kept the Islanders on Long Island, rather than selling or moving the team.
However,
Nassau County residents voted against building a new arena for the Islanders on August 1, 2011.
Proposal
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was currently the second-oldest arena in active use by an NHL team (after
Madison Square Garden), and had the second smallest capacity of all arenas in the NHL (after
MTS Centre
Canada Life Centre (formerly MTS Centre and Bell MTS Place) is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. The arena is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
T ...
). Nassau County asked for and received proposals from different development groups regarding how to renovate and build up the coliseum and surrounding area. Islanders owner Charles Wang proposed a plan to develop the area surrounding the arena; his plan originally included a renovation of the Coliseum, a 60-story tower designed to look like a lighthouse, housing, athletic facilities, a new minor league baseball stadium, restaurants, and a new hotel, at a projected overall cost of approximately $200 million. On August 14, 2007, Charles Wang and the Lighthouse Development Group, partnered with Rexcorp, created a new plan downsizing the entire project. The Coliseum design changed considerably, and the 60 story "Lighthouse" was replaced with two 30-story buildings connected by a footbridge.
2009–17
In February 2009, local media speculated that
Charles Wang
Charles B. Wang (; August 19, 1944 – October 21, 2018) was a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc. (later renamed CA Technologies). He was a minority owner (and ...
, frustrated with the slow pace of obtaining approval for the project from the
Town of Hempstead
The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on t ...
, would consider relocating the team. The team would become eligible to move when its lease with Nassau County ends in 2015. The Islanders played a 2009 preseason game in
Kansas City, Missouri, which was considered a possible candidate for relocation. There was also a movement to have the Islanders play adjacent to
Citi Field
Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...
, the home ballpark of the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
baseball team, in the
Willets Point section of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
should the team leave Nassau County. Wang had said that he wanted the team to remain where it is, but also said that he would be forced to explore other options if significant steps were not made by the Town of Hempstead in regard to approving the project by October 2009. Local newspapers such as ''Newsday'' and the ''Daily News'' speculated that Wang would consider moving the team to an area such as Queens or
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, where
Barclays Center was then being built for the
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
basketball team. Financing documents for the arena released in December 2009 indicated that “The New York Islanders could potentially become a tenant” at the Barclays Center. The Islanders' agreement with the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
allows them to relocate anywhere on Long Island, including Brooklyn and Queens.
In May 2009, ''Newsday'' reported that Wang had subsidized the team by $208.8 million, an average of $23 million per year since buying it, beyond what he paid for it.
After the October 2009 deadline passed, the ''
Long Island Press
The ''Long Island Press'' is a free monthly news and lifestyle periodical serving Long Island.
Alternative Weekly
Its previous print incarnation was as a free, independent print and digital monthly news journal with extensive coverage of local a ...
'' reported the cancellation of the Lighthouse Project. Wang has denied the report.
In May 2010, Mets COO
Jeff Wilpon had discussions with Wang about constructing a new arena for the Islanders near Citi Field. Wilpon has also discussed the possibility of buying the Islanders. In June 2010, the website
FanHouse FanHouse was a sports website owned by AOL. Launched in September 2006, FanHouse was considered the Internet's most linked sports blog by aggregator BallHype won Editor & Publisher's 2008 EPpy Award for "Best Sports Blog", and was named as a final ...
reported that Jeff and
Fred Wilpon
Fred Wilpon (born November 22, 1936) is an American real estate developer and former baseball executive. He was principal owner of the New York Mets from 1987 to 2020.
Early life and education
Wilpon was raised in a Jewish family , the owner of the Mets, began working with real estate firm
Jones Lang LaSalle
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to insti ...
(who also worked on the renovation of
Madison Square Garden) on a feasibility study of a new Islanders arena in Queens. However, a source from ''Newsday'' indicated that the FanHouse report was not true. There were also reports that businessman
Nelson Peltz
Nelson Peltz (born June 24, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is a founding partner, together with Peter W. May and Edward P. Garden, of Trian Fund Management, an alternative investment management fund based in New Yor ...
wanted to buy the Islanders and move them to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
On July 12, 2010, Town Supervisor
Kate Murray (R-Hempstead) announced an “alternate zone” created for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum property, downsizing the original Lighthouse Project to half its proposed size and making the project, according to Nassau County Executive
Ed Mangano
Edward P. Mangano (born March 24, 1962) is an American politician from the state of New York. A Republican, he was the Nassau County Executive from January 2010 to December 2017, and a former legislator in Nassau County, New York. He was elect ...
and the developers, "economically unviable for both the developer and owner of the site." From this point, the Lighthouse Project would no longer be pursued by Wang, Mangano and the developers.
On May 11, 2011, the Islanders and Nassau County executives announced that county residents would vote on a referendum for taxpayer funding for a new arena for the New York Islanders on August 1; on that date, county voters rejected a proposal for a new arena to replace the Nassau Coliseum.
On October 24, 2012, it was formally announced that the
New York Islanders would be moving to
Barclays Center in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
following the expiration of their lease after the 2014-2015 season.
In 2017, a group led by the Islanders reached a deal to construct a new 18,000-seat arena at
Belmont Park. and split their schedule between Barclays Center and a recently-renovated Nassau Coliseum on an interim basis until the completion of their new home,
UBS Arena
UBS Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York directly adjacent to the New York City limits. Opened in 2021, it is the home of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing Nassau C ...
, in November 2021.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lighthouse Project, The
Unbuilt indoor arenas in the United States
Sports venues in Nassau County, New York
New York Islanders
Hempstead, New York
Proposed buildings and structures in New York (state)