Hartford’s efforts to demolish and redevelop an 80-year-old stadium to entice a professional soccer team to the Capital City have devolved into a legal fistfight.
The original developer of the $12 million Dillon Stadium project in Hartford’s Colt Park is suing the city and the project’s current developer, alleging that its idea for the revamped sports complex — including recruiting a minor league soccer team to play in it — was stolen.
In its lawsuit, Hartford-based consultant Civic Mind Studios said the city wrongfully terminated its contract to develop and manage Dillon Stadium for a professional soccer team. Civic Mind is asking for at least $866,000 in damages, while noting the amount could have been considerably greater if the project had been successful.
“We are disappointed in the city of Hartford’s conduct and now seek the court’s assistance in resolving our dispute,” said TJ Clynch, Civic Mind’s founder.
Case details
According to the suit, Civic Mind, in late 2012, responded to the city’s solicitation for ideas to develop Dillon Stadium into a professional soccer complex and was selected as the preferred vendor in May 2013. While the company was developing its full stadium proposal and negotiating its formal contract with the city, however, Hartford officials terminated Civic Mind’s involvement in the project in February 2014, forcing the company to lay off six people.
While it didn’t have a formal contract with the city, Civic Mind said its selection as the preferred vendor and the subsequent issuance of a request for qualification to Civic Mind counts as a legally binding agreement for the stadium project, the lawsuit said.
After it ended its deal with Civic Mind, the city issued on May 12, 2014, a new request for proposals to manage the Dillon Stadium redevelopment.
The city then hired Farmington resident Mitchell Anderson and his newly formed company, Premier Sports Management Group, to continue the project. Premier was hired one day after submitting its proposal to the city, according to the city’s award letter.
The lawsuit alleges that the city’s deal with Premier Sports — which was founded May 22, 2014, a week before it was awarded the contract — only came about after Anderson met with Civic Mind about working as the project’s marketing manager. Civic Mind, however, said it refused to hire Anderson, who was privy to the company’s Dillon Stadium plans, the lawsuit said.
Civic Mind also alleges Anderson falsely represented to the city that Civic Mind was not qualified or capable of developing and managing Dillon Stadium.
“It is a made-up story,” said Eric Hard, a West Hartford attorney who is representing Anderson and Premier Sports Management Group. “You’ve got a city doing a sophisticated stadium revitalization project, and the premise of this suit is the city doesn’t have the vaguest idea what it is doing.”
In an interview, Anderson said he had been talking to the city about building a soccer stadium since 2004, when he tried to get a venue for the now defunct Connecticut Wolves soccer team. The project only came together now because the city got enough funding to do the rebuild.
Anderson said the city hired his firm so quickly — a week after it was formed and one day after it submitted its proposal — based on the strength of its plans. Premier Sports, which was the only company to submit a project proposal, was based in Farmington when it was formed but has since relocated to Hartford’s Colt Gateway building.
Premier is being paid a one-time $775,000 fee to oversee the redevelopment, according to its contract with the city. Civic Mind said its redevelopment fee was supposed to be $482,000, according to its lawsuit. Both of those sums don’t include management fees for running the stadium after the project’s completion.
Lisa Silvestri, Hartford’s assistant corporation counsel, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Dillon’s progress
Situated in Colt Park, Dillon Stadium was built in 1935 and holds a capacity of 9,600 people. It typically has been used for concerts and high school sporting events. The women’s tackle football team New England Nightmare played their 2013 home games there.
The Dillon Stadium redevelopment is in its early stages, but the city has already allocated $12 million for the project, which includes Premier’s fee. The city hopes construction will be complete before the 2016 professional soccer season.
But that timeline might not be realistic, and the $12 million might not be enough to finish the project, Anderson said.
The project is more likely to be ready for a professional soccer team starting for the 2017 spring season, Anderson said.
Premier will solicit proposals next week to demolish the stadium, which could take place as early as mid-February, Anderson said.
After the demolition, Premier plans to build a new 10,000-seat stadium with four VIP concourses and 10 executive suites that would be approved by soccer’s governing body FIFA, so the facility can hold international games there as well, Anderson said.
If the project goes over $12 million, Premier will seek out private funding to finish the job, he said.
“It is like any construction you do, like building a house. You build what you want, and if you end up needing a little more to finish it, you get it,” Anderson said.
Premier’s plan for the stadium includes signing a deal with a men’s professional soccer team to build a facility that best fits the team’s needs.
That’s in contrast to Civic Mind’s plan, which called for the redevelopment of the stadium to be made in phases based on the demands of organizations that want to use it. Civic Mind’s top goal was to have a women’s professional soccer team occupy the stadium.
The 12-team North American Soccer League, which was founded in 1968 but would be considered a minor league compared to Major League Soccer, has reached out to Premier and the city about expanding into Hartford, although no formal agreement has been made, said Stephen Cole, senior project manager for Hartford’s Economic Development Division.
Anderson said he is interviewing people now to create an ownership group for a NASL team in Hartford, although he would not give a timeline for when Premier might announce an expansion team.
Civic Mind’s proposal called for the new stadium to accommodate professional soccer as well as high school and other community events.
Under current plans, however, the city is seeking to build a separate, 3,000-seat stadium in Colt Park to accommodate community events; Dillon Stadium would be used for the 15 NASL home games plus a few major events like UConn men’s soccer games, WWE events, and festival concerts.
“With the land we have, we can do two fields,” Cole said. “We haven’t figured out yet where in the park Little Dillon will go.”
According to its proposal, Premier will receive an $850,000 yearly fee once the stadium starts hosting events, with that figure rising steadily to $1 million by 2022.
Civic Mind’s annual management fee was supposed to be $125,000 annually plus revenue sharing for the stadium and professional teams.
In its lawsuit, Civic Mind is asking for $259,446 that the city didn’t pay the company for the 10 months of work it did while operating as the preferred vendor; the loss of its $482,000 project management fees; $125,000 in annual stadium management fees; and lost revenue sharing.
[Editor’s note: How the story played out – Stadium deal collapses and city’s economic development czar resigns]
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