Playoffs delay civic center renovation
The $33 million renovation of the Cumberland County Civic Center has been delayed more than three months as the event center's chief tenant, the Portland Pirates hockey team, will host its playoff games there.
Separately, the Portland Press Herald reported that lease negotiations for the Pirates' next season remain unresolved and the largest issue remaining between the parties is who is responsible for the delayed construction, which was scheduled to begin April 22.
The Pirates' lease runs out April 20 but includes a clause allowing the team to host playoff games in Portland.
Civic center officials say the team is at fault for the delay as it did not notify the arena operators that they planned to host playoff games in Portland and not another arena.
Brian Petrovek, the managing owner of the Pirates, told the paper the delays have hurt the team's revenues on the other end of the season, as the completion date for the arena has been pushed from October to January, into the planned start of the next hockey season.
As a result, Petrovek said the delays have disrupted sales of season tickets for that next season and has put off some other promotions.
The Civic Center's board chairman Neal Pratt told the paper that he hopes a deal will be completed between the two parties by the Civic Center's board meeting next Wednesday. Petrovek told the paper he hopes to seal a deal sooner.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the relationship of lease negotiations at the Cumberland County Civic Center and construction delays at the arena's renovation.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments