
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 6, 1994                   TAG: 9406060118
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ETC. HUNTINGTON PAYS TO HAVE ECHL TEAM

Huntington's East Coast Hockey League team cost the West Virginia city between $93,800 and $300,000 in its first year, depending on who you ask.

"In the heat of wanting a hockey team, we gave everything away," town councilman Jim Ritter said.

Everyone knew having the Huntington Blizzard play in the Huntington Civic Center would cost the city money, but Ritter and councilman Arley Johnson were stunned to see exactly how much.

Mayor Jean Dean said the first year of hockey cost the city $93,796. Ritter and Johnson said it's more like $187,796 after figuring in costs that Dean didn't count, and maybe close to $300,000.

The city council asked the mayor for a list of hockey-related expenses at the civic center several months ago. On May 27, she gave them her report.

The report says the city's operational loss was $10,796. The city also had to pay $83,000 for the lease-purchase of the rink and other capital costs to convert the civic center into a hockey arena. That put the civic center's total loss at $93,796.

by CNB