A hearing intended to outline a $100 million makeover of downtown Hartford’s aging XL Center has been pushed back, after the owner of the atrium and storefront space outside the arena asked for a meeting with the Capital Region Development Authority, which is overseeing the project. The virtual hearing had been scheduled for Tuesday, but will now be rescheduled for later this month or early in February. The hearing was intended to outline the $100 million state-taxpayer funded plan, which has been downsized from the $250 million proposed a few years ago. The biggest difference between the two plans is the elimination of a second concourse that would have an upper half of the arena, providing a large chunk of the cost savings. In the $100 million plan, the overall strategy also has shifted to focusing on the lower half of the arena. The renovation will include industry standards restrooms, concessions, premium seating and other systems for the average 12,000 seats that events typically draw rather than the arena’s full 16,000-seat capacity.
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