February 3, 2010
Lowell Get Final Stamp on Arena Deal with City
CHN Staff Report
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed final legislation this week, clearing the way for Massachusetts-Lowell to officially take over Tsongas Arena, the home of its hockey team.
The city of Lowell has owned the arena — also home of the AHL's Lowell Devils — since its opening. The deal include a variety of land swaps.
Mass.-Lowell officials are planning a ceremony Friday before the RiverHawks' game with Boston University. That's the day they expected financing to be completed.
According to reports, the arena ran $1.2 million deficit in 2009. UMass-Lowell hopes to turn it profitable by hosting different events there, and using it as a recruiting tool for prospective students.
The school bought the arena for $1 and assumed the debt. In addition, the school gets land adjacent to the arena. The school also agreed to finance $5 million in improvements. The city will receive a four-acre vacant tract of land nearby from the university.
Issues surrounding the arena, among other things, had put the Lowell hockey program in jeopardy at one time, but those issues were largely resolved in recent years, including this one.
