Natomas business leaders have a critical meeting Thursday in their fight to keep the arena from moving downtown.

Natomas Chamber of Commerce President Ed Koop and N Magazine Publisher Emeritus Marni Leger, who chairs the chamber's Keep Arena committee, are set to meet at City Hall with City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby.

They'll discuss the advantages they see in a revised proposal to build a new sports and entertainment complex on 100 acres of city-owned land adjacent to Arco Arena. The original proposal, created by Natomas Entertainment Sports Center Partners, was one of seven submitted to the city late last year to construct a new arena in Sacramento.

They'll also ask Ashby to help keep the modified proposal on the list of contenders as the Dec. 30 deadline for another round of new or revised proposals approaches and those proposals are considered early next year, Koop said. (LINK to article announcing Dec. 30 deadline)

"If we're not even on that list, it's game over for us," Koop said.

The Natomas Chamber sent letters to Mayor Kevin Johnson and his arena task force last week also requesting that the proposal be kept in the running.

The chamber and its members believe the Natomas location would allow an arena to be built sooner and cheaper than any other location. The environmental review period would be shorter because acceptable air quality and traffic already exist at Arco Arena. The city-owned site is shovel-ready and has infrastructure in place – two freeways, access roads and utilities, Koop said.

Constructing an arena downtown would significantly worsen traffic congestion on freeways and streets downtown, he said.

In addition, chamber leaders contend the team of developers put together by the chamber and Mike Corrick of Nacht & Lewis Architects is the most experienced of the seven. NBBJ, a global architecture, planning and design firm based in Seattle, built the Staples Center in Los Angeles and six other arenas or stadiums.

The chamber began the campaign to keep the arena in Natomas a year ago after Johnson put out a call for arena proposals and said he'd prefer the new arena be built downtown. The committee ceased its work after the city of Sacramento entered an exclusive negotiating agreement with another team led by local developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor.

The committee resumed its work three weeks ago after the arena task force was reconvened. Since then, committee members and volunteers have been gathering petition signatures. They hope to collect 1,000 to present to the city and arena task force by Dec. 30.

Stickers reading "Keep the Arena in Natomas" have been popping up on car bumpers and store windows in the area. The free stickers are being handed out by the chamber and business owners such as Koop, whose Fastsigns franchise at 2840 Del Paso Road is within sight of Arco Arena.

The loss of the arena would hit retailers and other businesses like his hard. Koop has sold car wraps, promotional signs and other products to the Kings. Restaurants and bars are flocked by customers before and after basketball games and concerts at the arena. Area residents who work at Arco Arena could lose their jobs if the arena moves, Koop said.

"We want to keep the arena where it is, for a lot of reasons," Koop said. "If you put an arena in downtown Sacramento, you would be helping downtown. But at the same time, you could be destroying the economic environment in Natomas."

Both Natomas and the downtown railyards sit in Ashby's district. She didn't express support for either location.

She said she recognizes the arena brings much commerce to Natomas, yet she believes other types of development at the site could bring the same benefit. Ashby wants to see the same number of jobs and economic benefit brought to the area if the arena closes in Natomas and the land is used for something else, she said.

"All those things need to be part of the deal," she said.

A public hearing on the proposals is scheduled for Jan. 6. The arena task force has said it would present an analysis of the proposals on Jan. 21.

Natomas Chamber leaders realize downtown Sacramento needs to be improved and that something needs to jumpstart its economic engine. But Natomas businesses and residents are counting on that, too, Koop said.

"Something like this (new) arena can really help put us on the map and really help us revitalize this area," he said. "I think they're putting too much emphasis on the arena being the magic bullet that would turn downtown Sacramento around."

Photo of Ed Koop provided by the Natomas Chamber of Commerce. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.