MARYLAND HEIGHTS — Insufficient revenue at Centene Community Ice Center forced the city to again use other public funds to make mandatory bond payments.
The payment came around the same time that a lawsuit over the center appeared to be coming to a conclusion. On Friday, parties involved in the suit, including the city and ice center, said a tentative settlement had been reached with the contractor that built the facility.
The city used $206,750 from its own reserves to help make its $2 million debt payment that was due on Tuesday — marking the third time Maryland Heights has had to use other funds in addition to ice center revenue to cover part of a debt payment. The city had allocated money from its park fund previously.
“The center has booked several world-class tournaments as well as local ice events,” Mayor Mike Moeller said, “and we are confident that ice center revenues will cover future bond payments.”
People are also reading…
The four-rink ice center, at 750 Casino Drive, opened in September 2019 but closed once the coronavirus pandemic hit. Its 4,500-seat concert venue, St. Louis Music Park, opened in 2021.
The city, which leases the center to the operator, Legacy Ice Foundation, is required to make biannual interest payments, in addition to annual debt payments, on the $55.5 million in bonds it issued to build the $83 million ice center, where the St. Louis Blues practice. Revenue from the ice center and the area’s special 1% sales tax, which also gets money from the nearby Hollywood Casino & Hotel and the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, contribute to debt payments.
But the pandemic has curtailed revenues, prompting the city to tap other funds to make bond payments. The city, in financial disclosures released this week, also blamed “periodic pandemic restrictions by St. Louis County on capacity and indoor dining.”
Then last year, Arco Construction Co. sued Legacy, the center’s operator, alleging Arco was owed more than $6 million for unpaid work. The city had used $120,000 of revenue from the ice center to cover costs related to the suit. Arco and Legacy reached an agreement in early March, according to financial disclosures.
An attorney for the city, Dan Bruntrager, said Maryland Heights will not have to make any payments to Arco as part of the settlement. The city did not know other details of the agreement, Bruntrager said.
A spokesperson for Arco said Friday that “all parties are pleased with” the settlement. The company declined to share details of the agreement.
Patrick Quinn, Legacy chairman, echoed Arco’s statement and said the ice center is generating “significant regional economic impact” through various sporting events and concerts held there.
Over the past two weeks, he said, the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s National Tournament that the ice center has hosted has generated more than $1 million in economic impact.
“Through a shared vision,” Quinn said, “(we) have delivered another reason why St. Louis is America’s greatest amateur and pro sports community.”
