Facility upkeep may be an issue
NBA practice facility upkeep may be an issue

By Bryan Dean and John Estus

Published: March 19, 2008

Naming rights and maintenance funding were among the issues brought up Tuesday as the Oklahoma City Council got its first chance to discuss a proposed agreement to host the NBA's SuperSonics at the Ford Center.

The council unanimously agreed to set a final vote on the letter of intent between the city and Sonics owners for March 25.

The letter details rent payments, revenue sharing and many of the other financial terms that will serve as the basis for a lease with the team.

"I'm not satisfied that $20,000 a year will be enough money to do any kind of work,” White said. "I think that's something that we need to recognize as a bump down the road for us. There are things in this that will come up later, and one of them is the rehabilitation of the practice facility.”

City voters agreed March 4 to pay for the $20 million practice facility and about $101 million in improvements to the Ford Center in an effort to convince NBA owners the city is serious about hosting a franchise.

Owners are scheduled to vote next month on an application by Sonics owners to move the team to Oklahoma City.

Ward 2 Councilman Sam Bowman said he understood the $20,000 for maintenance at the practice facility was only for general upkeep.

"The city essentially will be taking care of those wear and tear capital repairs at the practice facility, but improvements will be by and large the team's responsibility,” Bowman said.

White said he expects the team will want more substantial improvements to the practice facility before the 15-year lease runs out and asked staff to consider planning for such a request.

City staff said they would take another look at the money they have set aside to maintain the practice facility, but insisted it wasn't meant as a funding source for major improvements.

The agreement requires the team to pay $409,000 a year to the city for naming rights, the same amount the city currently gets from Ford.

Anything the team negotiates above that amount, it keeps. Naming rights for NBA arenas often go for $50 million and up.

White credited city staff for negotiating a fair deal for the city.

"There are things in it that if we were in a perfect world might be different,” White said. "But we're not. We're in a world where we are competing for a franchise and you have to do what it takes to compete for the franchise.”

Benham received an initial $250,000 contract for Ford Center renovation plans in December. That contract required Benham to study what needed to be upgraded at Ford Center and to come up with renovation concepts.

The latest contract is for specific architectural and engineering plans that a general contractor can use once construction begins, said Tom Anderson, the city's special projects manager.

Benham designed the Ford Center and likely will receive a third contract soon to "finish out” the arena's renovation planning, Anderson said.

Because of the time crunch, council members Tuesday voted to seek a $20 million credit line so the city can pay renovation-related expenses until collection begins next year of the sales tax that pays for the arena improvements.

Anderson said the credit line would cover most of the "soft costs” of the renovations, such as design plans and some minor construction work. The credit line would be paid off with money generated by the sales tax.

Facing less of a time crunch is local architecture firm C.H. Guernsey, which won the bid to design the NBA practice facility.

A contract hasn't been drawn up for that project yet because the practice facility doesn't need to be ready as soon as the arena does, Anderson said.

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