Judge: Pirates’ lawsuit against civic center can proceed
A Cumberland County Business and Consumer Court judge decided not to throw out a lawsuit brought by the Portland Pirates hockey team against trustees of the Cumberland County Civic Center over a tentative lease agreement drafted in April.
The Portland Press Herald reported Justice Jon Nivison’s decision will allow the Pirates to move forward in building their case that the terms of the April agreement constitute an enforceable contract. The civic center trustees said that was not a final agreement because it did not sort out certain financial points and both sides had not signed the document. In the wake of failed negotiations, the professional hockey team has relocated its games to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston.
Harold Friedman, the team’s attorney, told the paper that rejection of the center’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit means the team can start collecting depositions and gathering documents to make its case.
It will likely be months before the case is argued in a courtroom, the paper reported. The Pirates have said they would suspend their lawsuit if the civic center were to reopen negotiations and the Portland Regional Chamber has been lobbying for civic center trustees to resume talks.
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