A soccer tournament is already scheduled at the Gorham Sports Center after Jon Smith, a builder and former Gorham School Committee member, bought the business Feb. 14 at a foreclosure auction with a winning bid of $1,005,000.
“Get it singing as quickly as possible,” Smith said after the auction when asked about plans for the dome structure.
The sports center, at 215 Narragansett St., closed last month due to financial problems. Opened in 2004, it has artificial turf and served a variety of sports and regional youth teams. Smith bid $5,000 more than owners of the Portland Sports Complex, who bid $1 million.
Smith said Wednesday the deal will close by April 1. But he’s “hoping and working hard” to make it happen more quickly.
The Southern Maine Community Recreation Center, a nonprofit group, plans to lease the Gorham facility from Smith, with an option to buy. But Adam Sturtevant, a board member of the group, said Wednesday the group is working now on a lease agreement with Camden National Bank, the mortagee, so the center can open March 1.
Sturtevant, a parent and soccer coach, said an all-day soccer Olympic development program tournament with teams from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, is already booked for Saturday, March 1.
Steve Willis, also a member of the board, said last week the group is pleased that the resource would stay in Gorham, and said it benefits the region.
“We have a lot of work to do and we need a lot of help,” Willis said.
A first step for the nonprofit group, which hopes to expand the operation, would be to insulate the dome to save heating costs, which have been $600 a day this winter. The group is looking for donations from individuals and corporations, said Parker Cowand, a parent, youth soccer coach and board member.
To meet the demand in a shortage of playing fields in Gorham, the group plans to add fields outside the dome, which sits on 18 acres. Future plans include a walking trail, playground, picnic area and courts for basketball and volleyball.
Sturtevant said local soccer and lacrosse teams are contacting the group, which is also planning indoor baseball practice this spring. “We’re developing programs for young players,” he said.
Auctioneer Tom Saturley told a gathering of about 50 people before the auction that Gorham Sports Center is an important asset.
Sturtevant estimated the sale price as a third of the cost of a replacement. Gorham tax records assess the value of the property at $1.2 million.
According to the auction informational packet, taxes for this present year are $19,480. Outstanding taxes on the sale date included $17,670.51with interest as of Jan. 10 for the 2006-2007 tax year; and $9.916.12 for the first half of the this year with another $9,740 due May 15.
Smith and his wife, Cindy, are parents of five children, who played athletics in the dome.
(winning bidder) Auctioneer Thomas Saturley of Tranzon Auction congratulates Jon Smith of Gorham after Smith acquired Gorham Sports Center Thursday with a $1,005,000 bid. (Send questions/comments to the editors.
