Civic Center Offers Deal to Hockey Team April 25, 2002

By Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER The numbers appear to add up for the Civic Center.

The arena's board, presented with projections that the proposed lease deal with David Adams' Atlantic Coast Hockey League team would yield annual profit in the six-figure territory, unanimously passed a motion Wednesday to review the contract and schedule a special meeting to move forward.

"We have got a contract as risk-free as you're going to have," said John Carnaghi, the Civic Center Authority's finance committee chairman and Florida State senior vice president of finance and administration.

It's certainly less risky than the final two years of the Civic Center's contract with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. The East Coast Hockey League team, which left town last summer, paid $4,850 per game in rent when it first arrived in 1994 but had the amount reduced to $2,500 per game for its last two seasons. The new team would be charged the higher rate, helping the arena project $111,791 in annual net profit.

The lease could come to a vote during next month's special meeting, which will be held sometime before the board's regularly scheduled May 29 meeting. No date has been set.

Civic Center executive director Ron Spencer told the board Adams has agreed to pay the rent - $145,500 for the 30-game home schedule - in advance. In exchange, Adams would only have to provide a $150,000 letter of credit to ensure the team fulfills the terms of the three-year lease. An earlier version of the agreement included a $500,000 note for a five-year deal.

The Civic Center, attempting to keep its revenue options open for concerts and other events, would be able to force the team to move three games per season. The team would be entitled to recover additional expenses.