ELMIRA, NY – On a day when the city of Elmira finally found a new owner for the First Arena, it learned it would be losing its professional hockey team at the end of the current season.
During a press conference Friday afternoon, the city announced that Brian Barrett has agreed in principal to purchase the First Arena. According to WENY-TV, Barrett, who is a part owner of Simmons Rockwell car dealership group, will purchase the arena for $3.5 million dollars from the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), which also owns the Jackals. Barrett is expected to spend his own money to renovate the arena.
Multiple media reports state that Barrett is willing to assume operating losses for the building rather than requiring that the county guarantee them. The annual deficits for the First Arena have been put at around $800,000 by county officials.
At the same time, the IDA and the Jackals organization released the following statement regarding the team:
The Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Elmira Jackals have announced today that the Jackals will cease operations at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.Â
The team has informed the ECHL of the decision and the league’s Board of Governors has approved the request for Voluntary Suspension of operations at the conclusion of the season.Â
The Jackals will play out the remainder of their 2016-17 schedule, which includes 10 more home games, before shutting down at the end of the season.
The Elmira Jackals organization would like thank its incredibly loyal fans and sponsors for their support over the past 17 seasons. We are proud of the positive impact the Jackals organization has made on the community during this period.Â
First Arena will continue to operate and host events after the Jackals season has concluded.
The Jackals franchise is the second ECHL team to announce it will not play during the 2017-18 season. In February it was announced that the Alaska Aces would cease operations at the end of the current season.
The finalization of the sale to Barrett is still pending.
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