The Hurricanes are "threatening to withhold" a $2.5M
construction payment to Raleigh's sports arena due January
1, according to Matthew Eisley of the Raleigh NEWS &
OBSERVER. If the team goes through with its "threat," the
arena could go into debt, "possibly triggering lawsuits and
delaying further the over-budget, behind-schedule facility."
The source of the dispute is the "reluctance" of the
Centennial Authority, which is building the arena, to
"formally" accept the terms of the Hurricanes' most recent
pledge of $8M to the $158M project. The team says that it
will not make its second payment of $2.5M "until site-
development and lease details are worked out." The
Authority chose not to complete the lease agreements on the
arena "until it had decided whether to accept" $5.2M in
additional arena financing from Raleigh and Wake County,
which it voted Tuesday not to take. Jim Cain, attorney for
the Hurricanes' parent company, Gale Force Holdings, called
the matter "serious" and said the team "will not withdraw
the threat" until a deal is done. Cain: "We've got two
weeks. Let's get it done." Authority Exec Dir Curt
Williams said that an authority committee "must review the
proposed agreements before the full authority can consider
them" on January 19. If arena construction is stopped, the
completion date would be delayed past the September 1 target
for the team's '99-2000 season (NEWS & OBSERVER, 12/17).
