Ratner, Dolan head to final round in Nassau Coliseum fight

Both sports arena owners have submitted bids for the 63-acre property

From left: Bruce Ratner, James Dolan, Nassau Coliseum
From left: Bruce Ratner, James Dolan, Nassau Coliseum

The fight between James Dolan and Bruce Ratner for the right to rebuild and run Nassau Coliseum in Long Island is almost at an end, Crain’s reported.

Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Copmany and Ratner’s Barclays Center team are the two remaining entities bidding for control of the 63-acre property in Uniondale. Final proposals were submitted on Aug. 9. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano is expected to announce a victor any day now.

“Long Island deserves a venue worthy of the third-largest city in the country,” said Arthur Katz, president of the Uniondale Chamber of Commerce.

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Prior to this bidding war, the Coliseum saw two previous attempts to revamp the arena, which wound up going nowhere. Those failed attempts to revitalize the space resulted in the Islanders hockey team to relocate to the Barclays Center.

Whichever developer wins will wind up controlling the property for the next 20 to 30 years, according to Crain’s.

Though both contestants want to completely transform the arena, neither want to demolish it. The MSG team is proposing encasing the existing façade in metal panels to give the building a new sheen, while the Barclays team hopes to remodel the arena to resemble the Barclays Center. [Crain’s] – James Comtois