Members of the Tacoma City Council are planning to spend $100,000 on a feasibility study to see what it would cost to renovate the aging Tacoma Dome in an effort to bring the Sonics back to the Seattle area.

"You look to the new museum, you look at the Tacoma Dome and you wonder what can be done to improve it," said Mayor Marilyn Strickland. "As we talk about improving our current asset we think about a long-term, strategic way to make it a regional asset and make it work hard for the citizens,” she said.

The general feeling among those at city hall is that if an NBA team comes back to Washington, an NHL franchise would follow in its footsteps.