There seems to be a big thing missing in Eau Claire. Something that will solidify our status as a large city of note. Something that will draw people from across the vast expanse of western Wisconsin to our shining metropolis for an opportunity to be entertained and have a fun time getting lost in another world for a few hours. Something that has been lacking for decades.

What is that big thing? A major arena.

If Carson Park could become an entertainment destination in the summer, why couldn’t an arena become the go-to place for minor league basketball or hockey in the winter?

True, Eau Claire has a few “arenas” in that we have gymnasiums, skating rinks, and Zorn for basketball and hockey. What we lack in this metropolitan area is a building that feels, well, “big-time.” We could use an arena with suites, padded seats, and a video board, with the capability to change format to accommodate non-sporting events.

Or could we? The arena question was revisited with a survey conducted earlier this year by Clear Vision Eau Claire. The findings showed that many respondents like the idea of a convention center or some large event facility to come to Eau Claire. You have to imagine an arena might be part of the conversation at some point, since, if a performing venue for over 10,000 people is part of a final project, that venue should be convertible for athletics, what with multi-purpose arenas being used for concerts and sports.

Yet we have been down this road before: recall the arena debates of the 1990s. There was talk in Eau Claire of building an arena somewhere in the city, perhaps with an eye towards catching up with La Crosse, which has had a proper arena – the La Crosse Center – since 1980. The questions involved in where to put it (downtown to kick-start the then-moribund center of the city? London Square Mall?) and, more importantly, how to pay for it. The notion of potentially raising taxes to pay for a building that may or may not have major tenants rubbed many people the wrong way, leading to the low point of the “Arena Cam” on The C.O.W. Report on Public Access in the mid-90s (trained on an empty parking lot to show all the “activity” surrounding the arena).

In the years since that debate, desire waned for an arena, but Eau Claire finally proved it could support organized league athletics with the smashing success of the Express. If Carson Park could become an entertainment destination in the summer, why couldn’t an arena become the go-to place for minor league basketball or hockey in the winter?

Therein lies the key question as we reconsider the arena issue. Eau Claire is growing to the point where, for a metropolitan area of this size, we need a larger, stand-alone convention center (compared to the current one in the downtown). We seem to be a community willing to invest in public projects. The money for a convention center/arena will come, but is an arena a necessary element of the plan?

To succeed like the Express, a minor league hockey or basketball team will need something akin to the Fan Deck, a place non-die-hard fans will want to come to socialize and occasionally pay attention to the game. Baseball is better built for such happenings – you kind of have to sit in your seat and watch those other sports. Perhaps a St. Paul Saints-style fan interaction might draw attention. However, this will take work. Plus, we need a team, and the NBA Development League (the prime basketball minor league) might consider us too close to the Timberwolves’ home.

This leads to another issue: oversaturation. Part of our problem getting artistic acts is that they look at Eau Claire and think they can get bigger “bang for the buck” 90 minutes to the west or south. Wausau has talked recently of a new arena. So, this high-population area may be in a no-man’s land of arena appropriateness.

I ultimately believe an arena speaks to the prestige of a community, and I sincerely hope one soon gets built in my hometown. However, it may not be the slam-dunk idea that one would believe it to be. At the very least, let’s hope a viable plan comes together before “Arena Cam 2012” gets up and running.