ARENA TO BE SPRUCED UP THIS SPRING

Instead of waiting 10 years to save all the money needed to make improvements to the A.C. Brase Arena Building, the city wants to borrow the money from a Sikeston bank through a lease-purchase agreement.

The city council approved an ordinance Monday night that would lease the Arena Building to the First National Bank of the Mid-South so that nearly $230,000 worth of renovations can be completed over a three-year period. The ordinance will get final approval at the April 5 council meeting.

The bank would then lease the building back to the city in exchange for payments on the loan.

The renovations will be paid for by the A.C. Brase Foundation, but the organization doesn't have the authority to issue bonds or seek loans, said Dan Muser, parks director.

The loan would be repaid from profits earned through user fees paid by groups that rent the building. The Arena Building is rented at least twice a week for events, Muser said.

Although it sounds somewhat unusual for a city to borrow from a bank, the lease-purchase agreement is a common financing tool for cities, said John Richbourg, city finance director. He compared the agreement to a homeowner seeking a remodeling loan.

Because the project is costly, all the money isn't available at the outset but can be acquired over time, Richbourg explained. Considering the amount of renovations planned, it would take the city nearly 10 years to get the project funded, he said.

And those funds aren't readily available in city coffers.

There isn't an adequate amount in the budget to complete the project all at once, said City Manager Mike Miller. By using the lease-purchase arrangement, the city can spread its renovation spending over a larger amount of time.

Similar financing agreements were used to fund the Osage Community Centre and the Shawnee Park Complex, city officials said. Those projects, totaling $5.3 million, were funded by the motel-restaurant tax and the collection of users fees.

The parks foundation donated more than $300,000 to the cost of the combined projects.

Muser said much of the work to begin in the spring will be done by city staff. The remodeling project includes renovating the restrooms, foyer, dining room, lobby and main office as well as the updating kitchen equipment and a walk-in freezer. A new sound system, curtains and drop ceiling also are included in the plan.

The building was renovated in the mid-80s but the work wasn't as extensive as the current plan, Muser said.

"We have to redo the bathrooms, that wasn't done then, and the lobby to replace the old railings," he said. "It will bring everything up to standard."