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.”

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

The group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, which has been fighting the project, released the following statement in reaction to the development:

“It’s clear that the project approved in 2006 no longer exists as a possible reality….It is time for Governor Paterson to…end the charade that the Atlantic Yards project would provide any benefit for the public and make it official, on paper, that Atlantic Yards no longer exists.”