The Sonics ownership hired the sports architect firm, HOK Sport, to design a new stadium for the team on a site yet to be chosen, the ownership announced on Wednesday.

Clayton Bennett, the chair of the ownership group, said the team is actively considering a few sites, none of which is in Seattle. Asked if that meant Bellevue or Renton, Bennett replied, "Not Seattle" and refused to elaborate.

He also said the size of the new facility to be designed by HOK is not yet established. The cost has not been determined and the amount of public investment that will be required in also a question mark.

But he says all of those questions will be answered within the next few weeks. He says a site will be selected soon and a preliminary design is expected by the time the Legislature begins in January. He also expects a budget to be developed in the same time frame.

The Sonics say they will honor a contract to play at KeyArena through 2010. But, they stress the Key is just not world-class.

Bennett says the new facility will be world class and designed for this area, not just for the Sonics and the Storm. He says it will "accommodate NHL (National Hockey League), concerts, community events, conventions, commercial and trade activities."

HOK already has 30 National Football League clients, including new stadiums for the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans. They have designed 80 professional and civic arenas, and is designing new ballparks for the Yankees, Mets, Twins and Washington Nationals. They also designed the Pepsi Center in Denver, Toyota Center in Houston, the United Center is Chicago and Philips Arena in Atlanta.

Although there's no guarantee of any public funding, Bennett will pay HOK to design an arena just for this area, something that might not work anywhere else. Jim Walters of HOK said: "It's a gamble on Mr. Bennett's part." As he laughed, Bennett said: "It's an investment."

The Sonics ownership says whatever they build is going to be so much better than the Key that it will attract stage shows and exhibits, perhaps even a national political convention.

That worries Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels because in 1994, the city spent $75 million to upgrade KeyArena. Taxpayers still owe $50 million. If the Sonics go at the end of their current lease, 2010, the city will still owe almost $30 million. That's pocketbook trouble.

The mayor said when the Kingdome was blown up King County owed $200 million. He noted: "The state stepped in and paid off the debt on the Kingdome that was left."

Nickels says he would expect similar help for KeyArena if there is a state tax to support construction of a new multi-purpose arena.

The new taxes reportedly under consideration are an extension of the present hotel, restaurant, and car rental taxes used to support other stadium construction. The chair of the Senate Ways and Means Commission, Senator Margarita Prentice, says leaders of both parties have been talking with the industries involved and the Sonics. She recently said there appears to be significant support for such a tax extension.