PITTSBURGH -- HOK Sport Inc., the Kansas City firm that designed PNC Park and the new Pittsburgh Steelers stadium, has been hired to help the Pittsburgh Penguins study options for new arena.
Carrie Plummer, an HOK spokeswoman, said the contract does not go beyond a study.
"We're looking at options both for the existing arena and a new arena," Plummer said.
The Penguins are scheduled to complete the $8 million purchase of the former St. Francis Central Hospital, across the street from Mellon Arena, on June 15 -- about the time the National Hockey League wraps up the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Penguins trail the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final series, which resumes in Pittsburgh this afternoon.
Officially, whether a new arena is built depends largely on the results of an $80,000 study -- also due shortly after the playoffs -- by accountants who are comparing the cost and benefits of renovating Mellon Arena to those of a new arena.
However, Penguins officials have said privately it's unlikely the team will push to renovate Mellon Arena, a 17,148-seat, retractable roof structure built in 1961 -- the oldest building in the NHL.
The Penguins have played in the building since they entered the NHL as an expansion team in 1967. The building's name was changed from Civic Arena to Mellon Arena in 1999 after Mellon Financial Corp. paid $18 million for 10 years of naming rights.
Penguins officials have said a new arena would cost $175 million to $225 million and could have 19,500 seats.
Also unresolved is whether the Penguins can count on money from the city, state or Allegheny County.
County Executive Jim Roddey has said he opposes spending public money for an arena, but the Penguins have not yet asked for money from the county.
State legislators two years ago approved a proposal by state Sen. Jack Wagner, a Pittsburgh Democrat, to spend up to $60 million on a new arena for the Penguins.
But Gov. Tom Ridge has said the Penguins won't get nearly as much help from the state to build an arena as the Pirates and Steelers got to build their new facilities. Ridge said that's because it's easier to rent out an arena when the Penguins are not playing, which makes it more self-sufficient than outdoor facilities.
The state pledged as much as one-third of the cost to build the new stadiums, but only $150 million was approved by the Legislature. The Steelers stadium cost $289 million. PNC Park's final price tag was $262 million.
Kansas City firm hired to study Penguins arena options 
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