The latest on the troubled Spaladium Arena in Split.
A day after the first hearing of the arbitration proceedings which have been initiated by banks due to the issues concerning the financing of Spaladium Arena, Mayor of Split Ivo Baldasar said that the Government, on his initiative, has established a special interdepartmental committee to study the issue. The Government and the State Attorney’s Office are again examining the documentation and Mayor Baldasar hopes that they will join the proceedings on the side of the City of Split. “We have responded to arbitration request in order to get more time. That was the advice we have received from the Government”, he said, reports Dalmatinski Portal on December 16, 2015.
He reiterated that they should made a deal with the banks, even though neither the City nor the State were not guarantees of the project. However, they could made a deal “in good faith”. “If by some miracle the City were to lose the arbitration proceedings, the intent of the banks is not to push us into bankruptcy. The intention is to start the process and for them to start receiving money for Spaladium Arena. They say that then they would have a legal basis to decide how to refinance the whole project, but the conditions would be more stringent”, the mayor explained.
He believes that Split needs Spaladium Arena and that Perica Mitrović, who is currently the manager of the facility, is using all possible means to save the wonderful sports hall for the city. “Where does it say we do not need Spaladium Arena? By that logic, we do not need any of the public facilities, schools, swimming pools, Poljud. Let us all just stay home and do nothing”, he said.
The original idea was for Spaladium Arena to be financed with profits from a business tower which should have been built next to it. “That was a lovely idea which would have solved some of the financing issues. But, nothing is impossible, the land is there after we solve the property issues”, Baldasar explained. City authorities have filed a complaint that they do not agree with the arbitration proceedings, but that will not delay the procedure.
