A new architectural firm is coming in to design the proposed basketball arena in Brooklyn, following the departure of famed architect Frank Gehry from the project.

Developer Bruce Ratner says the Kansas City firm of Ellerbe Becket will now design the Barclays Center, which will eventually house the Nets.

Ratner says the new arena designs will be unveiled later this month.

Gehry developed the master plan for the Atlantic Yards project, which includes the Barclays Center as its centerpiece.

Rumors that he would be dismissed from the project had been swirling for months.

In a statement, Ratner said the current economic climate is not right for Gehry's design, seen on the right, and says the new arena plan will be "more limited in scope."

The group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, which has been fighting the project, is calling on Governor David Paterson to stop the development. They say it will not deliver on Ratner's promises.

"This is just one more piece of evidence that they never intended to build it the way they said they would," said Candance Carponter of Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn. "It's really, at this point, the icing on the cake, because one of the main draws was Frank Gehry and obviously he was too expensive or they couldn't build the plan they wanted and it's another bait and switch from Forest City Ratner."

Forest City Ratner is under pressure to break ground on the Barclays Center this year or risk losing tax exempt financing.