First Arena - Timeline For First Arena

Timeline For First Arena

1998 • March 2: Elmira city officials announce they’ve chosen Lauridon Sports Management to help develop and operate the city's $11.6 million arena.

• Sept. 27: Midtown Plaza on North Main Street is selected as the site for the arena. • Oct. 7: Lauridon commits $5 million to the $15 million project. It never says where the money would come from. 1999 • July 1: Five downtown businesses are evicted from their properties and are told they have until Sept. 30 to move. • July 6: Elmira City Council unanimously votes to begin eminent domain proceedings against Paul Navestad, the only property owner (117 N. Main St.) the city couldn’t reach an agreement with.

• Aug. 18: Thomas Freeman, president of Coach USA Transit Services, announces he has signed an agreement to pay $1 million for the arena to be called the Coach USA Center. • Sept. 21: Demolition crews begin to tear down North Main Street buildings to clear the way for the arena. • Oct. 4: The Chemung County Legislature says that if the $7.25 million promised by Lauridon Sports Management and its private investor for the project, Mostafa Afr of Ann Arbor, Mich., isn’t in place by Dec. 1, it will pull its $1.25 million in support for the project. • Oct. 26: Key Bank approves Mostafa Afr’s application for a $7.25 million loan to help build the center. • Nov. 24: An estimated 175 people, some peering out of store and apartment windows, gather at North Main and Gray streets to watch the groundbreaking ceremony. 2000 • Jan. 28: The Chemung County Industrial Development Agency closes on the county’s $1.25 million loan to the project. • Feb. 1: The final piece of financing falls into place when the Afrs and a vice president from Key Bank in Albany close on a $5.5 million loan. • Feb. 25: Tamer Afr, Mostafa Afr’s son and business partner, announces that Global Spectrum will replace Lauridon Sports Management as the arena facility manager.

• March 27: The United Hockey League awards an expansion franchise to Elmira. The team is slated to begin play in the 2000-01 season. • May 18: Elmira’s UHL team is named the Jackals. Also, Tamer Afr introduces SMG as the arena’s new management firm, replacing Global Spectrum. • June 7: The City Council approves a roof design for the project, which now has an estimated cost of $16 million.

• Aug. 17: The Twin Tier Amateur Hockey Association and Tamer Afr sign a contract for youth hockey to be played at the arena, ending seven months of sometimes-heated negotiations. • Nov. 11: The first event is held at the center when the Jackals play their home opener against Knoxville. • Nov. 12: The Moody Blues appear as the first musical entertainment at the arena. 2003 • October: Coach USA Center is renamed First Arena. 2006 • April: Mostafa Afr announces that Robbie Nichols will take over operation of both First Arena and the Jackals. He is the arena’s eighth general manager in less than six years and its fourth manager in the past year. 2007 • Oct. 31: EDA, the arena operator, enters into an installment agreement to pay taxes on which it had defaulted. 2008 • March 31: EDA defaults on the installment agreement. 2009 • April: Tax bills are issued by the City of Elmira. • July: The city sends out reminder notices for the unpaid first installment of the tax bill. • December: The city sends out reminder notices for the unpaid second installment of the tax bill. 2010 • March 31: The city provides information about all unpaid taxes to the county treasurer. • May: The county treasurer sends out reminder notices on all taxes unpaid as of March 31, 2009. 2011 • January: The county sends out 2010 tax bills with notice of unpaid taxes in prior years. • Jan. 14: EDA enters into another installment agreement to pay 2010 taxes. • March 31: EDA defaults again, and the 2010 taxes become delinquent. • May: The county sends out reminder notices on 2010 delinquent taxes with a note that there are prior year taxes yet unpaid. • October: The county sends out 90-day notices with the deadline to pay taxes before foreclosure on Jan. 17. 2012 • Jan. 17: The 4:30 p.m. deadline passes for EDA to pay $123,849 in overdue taxes. • Mid-February: A foreclosure order is signed by Chemung County Court Judge Peter Buckley, starting a “redemption period” that was to end Feb. 29. During that period, Southern Tier Economic Development, the arena’s owner, could get the property back by paying the overdue tax balance plus a 10 percent penalty totaling $136,234. • March 12: The county Legislature votes table an attempt by STED to buy back the arena. The legislature also called for the hiring of a consultant to investigate the arena’s financial status and physical condition. • March 22: EDA files a lawsuit against Chemung County, County Executive Tom Santulli, County Treasurer Joseph Sartori and STED to try to force the county to accept the repurchase offer on the arena. • March 22: EDA and M-Team LLC, a Michigan corporation, file a lawsuit against former arena General Manager Robbie Nichols and former Assistant General Manager Donald Lewis alleging they attempted to sabotage the arena operator, the Jackals and First Arena. • April 5: EDA and Key Bank filed two more lawsuits accusing the county of not following proper procedure in administering its foreclosure process. • April 17: Chemung County Supreme Court Judge Judith O’Shea hears arguments from EDA and the county but makes no immediate decision. • April 25: O’Shea dismisses the lawsuit filed March 22 against county officials and also dismisses the suit filed against Nichols and Lewis. • May 17: A memorandum of understanding is signed by Tamer Afr for EDA, Santulli for the county and Kevin Keeley as president of STED that allows the Jackals to play in the facility during the 2012-13 season. The agreement allows EDA to continue operating the arena but gives the county the same rights as STED to oversee arena operations. • Tuesday: Officials announce that Freeman, now president of First Air in Big Flats, has been named as the new operator of First Arena, replacing the Afr family. The agreement ends all pending litigation