LEWISTON- On Tuesday night, the City Council again voted to postpone their decision on whether to provide a $1.4 million guarantee for Mill Town Sports and Entertainment to purchase The Colisee.
A few Councilors cited concerns over documents received the day of the meeting and a desire to receive more information about the business plans for The Colisee going forward.
The vote to table was 5-2, with Councilors Chittim and Harriman voting against.
Some Councilors said they could support the guarantee with more information, others said they were ready to support it now, and the rest suggested they could not support the proposal at all.
The Council previously took up the issue at its meeting on March 3rd, but chose to postpone the vote until remaining questions they had could be answered.
Mill Town owner and CEO Nate Bostic, and Acting Director of Economic and Community Development John Blais, presented to the Council at both meetings.
Their presentation this past Tuesday aimed to answer those remaining questions. Between the presentation and additional Councilor questions, the item was discussed for almost two hours.
Bostic stressed that time was a factor, with youth hockey programs already delayed. The previous Council postponement pushed back Mill Town’s plans, and the decision to postpone again this past Tuesday likely delays those programs further.
The youth hockey programs are a needed source of revenue for his company to stay viable.
Bostic emphasized that he has been working with the city on the guarantee proposal for twelve months.
The future of all Colisee programming could be at stake, with a potential for The Colisee to fall into disrepair should the sale not go through.
Bostic has ambitious plans for The Colisee, including acquiring turf so that indoor soccer matches can be played there.
If the sale is approved, he also plans to add more events like concerts, wrestling, and bringing a Canadian major junior hockey franchise to the city.
Mill Town owns and operates both the Lewiston MAINEiacs (of the National Collegiate Development Conference) and the Jr. MAINEiacs Hockey Academy.
Last July, Mill Town signed a lease and assumed management of The Colisee.
The Council will likely add a special meeting to one of its upcoming workshops in order to vote on the guarantee proposal.