RALEIGH — After months of meetings, landmines and shotgun marriages, the arena is finally official. The Raleigh City Council Tuesday approved the Centennial arena deal and with it, handed over the $48 million to start construction.

Arena pointman Steve Stroud says the unanimous deal is a fair one.

One of the final obstacles to the deal was the issue of whose name would go above the arena door. Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer has said that selling the name could have brought in as much as $50 million, but he now seems resigned to the fact that they will go for less.

The North Carolina State University Board of Trustees also approved the final arena deal Wednesday.

The $132 million facility is scheduled to open in 1999.