Now, UW-River Falls becomes a key player in the deal. The airport property divides land owned by the university. The long, narrow strip of airport land separates the university's farmland. We hope to reconfigure it for our own advantage and also to the benefit of whoever wants to purchase it. The process is similar to the land swap agreement recently reached between the River Falls School District and UW-RF during negotiations for the site of the new high school.
City governments can do many things in working with developers.
The next phase of the project to build a new arena will come in arranging financing for the property. 65 that has sparked some interest from prospective buyers. Sale of that property, the former El Gato's site, could raise more than half the money needed to buy the airport site.