Progress of Nassau Coliseum renovations

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - As reporters were taken on a tour of the currently under renovation Nassau Coliseum, neither County Executive Ed Mangano nor developer Bruce Ratner would directly answer the big question. Will the professional hockey team the Islanders make the coliseum home again?

Officials did tout that the arena, now scheduled for completion by next march, will have 13,000 seats. It's going to take its darker color scheme and other design ideas from Barclays Center in Brooklyn

Despite the façade not changing until late summer and new seats not coming in until winter, the arena is right on schedule.

Mangano is calling the new arena historic because for the first time in 42 years, it will not be subsidized by taxpayers. The utility bill alone last year was $2 million. Mangano also says residents will also reap the rewards of this renovation.

When asked about even a minor league hockey team coming to the arena, officials said that would have to be discussed with the Islanders' new ownership.

Clearly officials are leaving the door open to having a professional team make the coliseum their home but so far have not made any promises.