"The developers will award a construction contract for the firstphase of the development, which will be worth between $70 millionand $100 million, sometime in the winter," says Barbara Kattermann,RiverCity pointperson for the city and former economic developmentofficer for Aurora. "Because of environmental assessments, we arepushing back ground-breaking plans to next summer sometime."

It has taken Kattermann and Aurora Mayor David Stover nearly twoyears to get to this point. When they first broached plans for thedevelopment, it was for just eight acres, according to Kattermann.Now the project has mushroomed to 200 acres and city officials mustnow begin negotiations to acquire 344 parcels of land in a mostlydowntrodden industrial area within the city.

The plans call for a 6,000-seat sports arena to be developed bynoted area sports venue owner and developer Charles Bidwill, a hugeconvention hall, a 250-room hotel and over 1,000 residential unitsalong with retail.