City officials say they can't begin construction on a practice ice sheet for the 2002 Winter Games in south Provo until the Utah Sports Authority and Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee sign off on a proposed cooperative agreement that defines each party's role.
But Olympic organizers aren't ready to approve the agreement, which calls for them to come up with more money than they're willing to spend on the $7 million project, and come up with it now."What we have said to Provo is at this point, it's a total of $3 million," that wouldn't be paid to the city until 1999, organizing committee attorney Kelly Flint said Tuesday.
That total includes interest payments on any money Provo borrows to build the facility, Flint said. Provo wants Olympic organizers to put $3 million in a trust account for the ice sheet, plus give them $700,000 to cover interest.
Flint said it's possible more money may be available in a few years. "We have agreed to consider that down the road, when we see what our revenues and expenses are," he said.
Olympic organizers are going to have to sit down with city officials for negotiations on both the total amount available and the timing of when Provo would receive the Winter Games money, Flint said.
Lewis Billings, Provo's acting chief administrative officer, said the city needs a written commitment before it can secure financing.
"There's a lot that needs to be tied down in writing on what's going to be done and who is going to do it," Billings said. "We've got to have an agreement with them in some form, if we're going to break ground some time this spring."
After being named in June to host the 2002 Winter Games, Olympic organizers pledged $3 million for the practice ice sheet from revenues expected to be available in 1999.
To help get the facility constructed sooner, however, the Sports Authority agreed earlier this summer to pay about $700,000 in interest so the $3 million can be borrowed and paid back in 1999. The city and Utah County would chip in $2 million each to complete the financing picture.
Olympic organizers, who'll take over the state's Olympic facilities in 1999, want to deduct the $700,000 from their $3 million pledge because they're obligated to repay whatever the Sports Authority spends, up to $59 million.
The city would retain ownership of the ice sheet but would make it available to the Organizing Committee during the 2002 Winter Games. The city would also retain the right to take on partners in the project, name the facility and have the right to sell the facility's name.
City officials hope that a large corporation will contribute to the project in exchange for adding the corporation's name to the structure. Similar deals resulted in the naming of Franklin Quest Field and the Delta Center.