ESL Centre Etc.
As promised, more stuff on the ESL Centre. This post is basically a smorgasbord of tasty little nuggets. Like doughnut holes of various flavors. Chocolate, glazed, powdered. You name it.
• Since finding out that construction magnate David Christa is one of the principal owners of the ESL Centre, I've been wondering what his thoughts are about the current state of the facility and its future. So I called Christa Construction on Thursday to see if I could talk to the man himself.
(Remember that I called the company in December seeking comment. At the time, I knew that Christa was involved in the centre somehow, but I didn't know he owned the thing. Back then, when I talked to someone identifying herself as Christa's office manager, she said that, to her knowledge, Christa wasn't involved at the centre at all. So either she was lying, or she didn't know her boss as well as she thought she did.)
So I called Thursday and asked to speak to David Christa regarding his ownership of the ESL Centre, its current problems and his future plans for the facility. I was connected with Frank Christa, David's brother, and I asked him the same question: what does David Christa have planned for the centre in the future?
"It's undetermined at this point," Frank Christa replied. No one knows "what the future is" for the facility, he said.
That response gives me a small case of the willies, because it's unsettlingly vague and cryptic.
• In 2001, the public entity charged with operating the ESL Centre — the Monroe Community Sports Centre Corporation — was sued by BSB Bank & Trust, a Syracuse-based firm. A few years earlier, MCSCC took out a lien on a whole bunch of hockey equipment and other stuff with BSB. Apparently, the centre has defaulted on the loan, triggering the lawsuit.
The weird part about the suit was that it was filed in Broome County Supreme Court. That's the Binghamton area. Attorneys for BSB filed a request for judicial intervention (RJI) in August 2001, but the case was disposed of in February 2002.
That's about all I could find out without driving down to Binghamton and going to the Broome County Clerk's office myself or calling one of the case's attorneys myself. I decided against both actions because it was an old case, and it seems to have happened before or roughly during the time when the centre's previous management (which probably included Steve Donner) was given the boot and its current management (such as Advanced Arenas) was brought on.
However, it could be worth noting that the MCSCC's lead attorney on the case was Michael J. Townsend, who's also served as counsel of other Monroe County entities, including the controversial County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) and the Greater Rochester Sports Authority.
• I'm somewhat disappointed, but not really surprised, that the Democrat and Chronicle has yet to look into the situation at the ESL Centre. Last week the paper ran an article on how centre GM Ray Maluta was named coach of the national sled hockey team for disabled athletes.
Without a doubt, that was much-deserved coverage — Maluta should be absolutely commended for his efforts with local youth and other community organizations, and it proves that, despite any real or imagined problems with facility management and structural deterioration, the ESL Centre is a highly beneficial, much-needed asset in the local sports community.
However, such good news coming from the ESL Centre almost underscores the importance of the facility being well-managed and financially stable, the lack of which would jeopardize programs like the ones run by Maluta.
And THAT is why the local media needs to examine the inner workings of the ESL Centre, why the daily paper shouldn't ignore the fact that the facility had deteriorated financially and structurally so much that it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The daily shouldn't ignore the efforts of the centre's current management and ownership — and the criticism that is being leveled at them.
Oh well, what are ya gonna do with a newspaper owned by cheap tightwads who spread the editorial staff so thin that important stories go uncovered?
• Since finding out that construction magnate David Christa is one of the principal owners of the ESL Centre, I've been wondering what his thoughts are about the current state of the facility and its future. So I called Christa Construction on Thursday to see if I could talk to the man himself.
(Remember that I called the company in December seeking comment. At the time, I knew that Christa was involved in the centre somehow, but I didn't know he owned the thing. Back then, when I talked to someone identifying herself as Christa's office manager, she said that, to her knowledge, Christa wasn't involved at the centre at all. So either she was lying, or she didn't know her boss as well as she thought she did.)
So I called Thursday and asked to speak to David Christa regarding his ownership of the ESL Centre, its current problems and his future plans for the facility. I was connected with Frank Christa, David's brother, and I asked him the same question: what does David Christa have planned for the centre in the future?
"It's undetermined at this point," Frank Christa replied. No one knows "what the future is" for the facility, he said.
That response gives me a small case of the willies, because it's unsettlingly vague and cryptic.
• In 2001, the public entity charged with operating the ESL Centre — the Monroe Community Sports Centre Corporation — was sued by BSB Bank & Trust, a Syracuse-based firm. A few years earlier, MCSCC took out a lien on a whole bunch of hockey equipment and other stuff with BSB. Apparently, the centre has defaulted on the loan, triggering the lawsuit.
The weird part about the suit was that it was filed in Broome County Supreme Court. That's the Binghamton area. Attorneys for BSB filed a request for judicial intervention (RJI) in August 2001, but the case was disposed of in February 2002.
That's about all I could find out without driving down to Binghamton and going to the Broome County Clerk's office myself or calling one of the case's attorneys myself. I decided against both actions because it was an old case, and it seems to have happened before or roughly during the time when the centre's previous management (which probably included Steve Donner) was given the boot and its current management (such as Advanced Arenas) was brought on.
However, it could be worth noting that the MCSCC's lead attorney on the case was Michael J. Townsend, who's also served as counsel of other Monroe County entities, including the controversial County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA) and the Greater Rochester Sports Authority.
• I'm somewhat disappointed, but not really surprised, that the Democrat and Chronicle has yet to look into the situation at the ESL Centre. Last week the paper ran an article on how centre GM Ray Maluta was named coach of the national sled hockey team for disabled athletes.
Without a doubt, that was much-deserved coverage — Maluta should be absolutely commended for his efforts with local youth and other community organizations, and it proves that, despite any real or imagined problems with facility management and structural deterioration, the ESL Centre is a highly beneficial, much-needed asset in the local sports community.
However, such good news coming from the ESL Centre almost underscores the importance of the facility being well-managed and financially stable, the lack of which would jeopardize programs like the ones run by Maluta.
And THAT is why the local media needs to examine the inner workings of the ESL Centre, why the daily paper shouldn't ignore the fact that the facility had deteriorated financially and structurally so much that it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The daily shouldn't ignore the efforts of the centre's current management and ownership — and the criticism that is being leveled at them.
Oh well, what are ya gonna do with a newspaper owned by cheap tightwads who spread the editorial staff so thin that important stories go uncovered?
posted by Ryan Whirty at
10:08 PM
1 Comments:
BSB was based in Binghamton in 2001 -- and in fact still may be based there. It used to be Binghamton Savings Bank. Hence the filing in Broome County Court.
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Anonymous, at 9:07 AM
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