Central Hockey League team owners reach lease deal with Powerade Centre
City councillors approved an agreement with the Realstar Group, owners of the Powerade Centre, at yesterday’s council meeting — the final hurdle in securing the new team.
When owner Gregg Rosen and president Cary Kaplan met with councillors last week there were five items of concern that needed to be finalized.
Three of those concerns had been addressed prior to their visit to City Hall.
The fourth, an agreement from council to help with the purchase of a state-of-the-art video scoreboard, met with unanimous approval from the councillors in attendance.
The fifth was the finalizing of an agreement between the City of Brampton and the Realstar Group as it pertained to the lease for the new team.
“The lease with the Powerade and team is also written and agreed to, I am told,” said Mayor Susan Fennell. “It just needs to be signed and executed."
According to Realstars Group's Brian Soye, that may take until next week. The new Central Hockey League team has signed a letter of intent but will now need to finalize a long-term agreement with the building.
The Brampton team is expected to begin play in the Central Hockey League next October.
They are currently asking for the community to get involved in “Naming Their Team"
Professional hockey remains "a possibility" for Casper
The city is still working with investors and other parties to bring a Central Hockey League team to Casper by this fall.
City Manager John Patterson said last week that he spoke with investors who have raised about half of the total project amount.
“It’s still going well,” Patterson said. “We will soon come to the point at which we could have a team operational October 2013.”
If private investors can’t obtain the remaining funds by March 1, he said the project may need to be delayed a year.
“At this point in time, we are still hopeful,” Patterson said.
The city would not contribute anything to the project except an ideal facility in the Events Center with enough space and seating. The city would rent the Events Center to the team and some of that amount would be offset by concession and other related revenues. Patterson said an investment board would install an ice rink at the center and that should take fewer than 90 days.
The ice would stay on the Events Center floor eight months a year and a one-inch-thick board would be placed over the ice when concerts and other events take place. The hockey team would play about 40 home games each season, which begins in October and ends in March.
The CHL is roughly comparable to baseball’s AA level in the hierarchy of minor league hockey. It fielded 10 teams this season and will add a team in St. Charles, Mo., for the 2013-14 season. The closest franchises to Casper are the Rapid City (S.D.) Rush and the Denver Cutthroats.
