The chairman and chief executive of Whalers Sports and Entertainment has unveiled a $105 million renovation of the XL Center to include an IMAX theater, restaurant and bar, based on the possibility that the NHL will return to Hartford in 2017.
Howard Baldwin presented the plan on Tuesday, the Hartford Courant reports.
Baldwin brought the NHL's Whalers to Connecticut in the 1970s and the team played in the XL Center.
The team left Connecticut in 1997, in what would turn out to be a very dark time for local fans, and moved to North Carolina, where they would be the Hurricanes.
Construction would start next year and end in 2014. Plans call for a market and food court, broadcast studio at street level and a Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood restaurant.
The XL Center now has the Connecticut Whale, of the American Hockey League, as its primary tenant. The UConn men's and women's basketball teams also play there.
