Plans are being discussed for a 15,000-seat domed stadium that would be built on property near the Northern Quest Casino, in Airway Heights.


Tim Bainter, who owns the Spokane Nightmare semiprofessional football team here and is involved in the project, claims that financing is available and construction could begin within 60 days on the estimated $18 million structure.


Bainters exact role in the proposed project wasnt immediately clear. He answered some initial questions about rumors related to the project, then couldnt be reached for additional comment later.


Spokane builder-developer Randy Ramey says he is working with investors who are pursuing the project, but declines to divulge any information about it, saying details havent been finalized yet.


One local businessman says he has been approached by Bainter about the project and says Bainter was seeking corporate sponsors for a new stadium. The businessman, who asked not to be identified, says when he asked Bainter about the seemingly low price of the project, Bainter told him the stadium would be a prototype. By comparison, the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, which opened in 1995 and seats about 12,500 people, cost about $44.8 million.


The businessman says Bainter told him that design work for the project has been under way since March.


Other sources say they had heard that Orville Moe, who owns Spokane Raceway Park, in Airway Heights, is involved in the project, and that the stadium is expected to be built on 140 acres of land near the casino that the Kalispel Tribe of Indians bought from Moe earlier this year.


Moe, who had talked of developing a private arena before Spokane County voters approved the Spokane Arena, couldnt be reached for comment. Neither could Kalispel Tribe officials be reached. The city of Airway Heights planning department says it hasnt received an application related to a stadium project.