Sports Arena Upkeep Plan Submitted

San Diego Sports Arena operators waited until the last few hours of 1984 to comply with City Manager Ray Blair’s demand that they present a plan for bringing the 13,000-seat facility up to par--a task that is expected to cost at least $1 million--or face loss of their operating lease.

Blair earlier had served notice on Peter Graham, operator of the arena, that the city was intent on breaking its lease with San Diego Entertainment Inc., a corporation owned by Graham, unless the 19-year-old building was brought up to snuff and maintained that way.

Neither Graham, a Canadian investor, or Phil Quinn, arena general manager, could be reached for comment Monday, but Assistant City Manager John Lockwood confirmed that Graham’s representatives had delivered plans to the manager’s office Monday afternoon, a few hours before the City Hall closed and the end-of-the-year deadline arrived.

Lockwood declined to discuss the specifics of the Graham offer, explaining that the city is now involved in legal maneuvers to force Graham to bring the city’s largest indoor sports facility up to acceptable standards and to keep it that way or lose his lease to operate the arena.

Lockwood said the City Council is scheduled to discuss the Graham proposal at a Jan. 8 executive session.

Major complaints by city officials and by users of the stadium focus on the condition of the arena roof, the seating and the playing floor, used for indoor soccer and basketball. The San Diego Clippers used to call the Sports Arena home. Team officials cited the condition of the arena as a major factor in the move of the National Basketball Assn. franchise to Los Angeles.

In November, city officials officially notified Graham that they meant business. In a letter to Graham from Blair, the arena operator was warned that if he did not replace the facility’s roof, repair or replace its battered seats and keep the building in better condition, the city would proceed to court to break Graham’s lease, which he has held since 1971 and which extends to 2015.

Lockwood said Monday that if Graham’s improvement plans do not meet the City Council’s standards, the city may seek to break the operating lease despite Graham’s compliance with the city’s Dec. 31 deadline.

“In any case, there must be an agreement between the city and the operator as to what is to be done and when it is to be done,” Lockwood said.

The city owns the land on which the Sports Arena and its surrounding parking lots sit. In 2015, when construction bonds on the facility are paid off, the city will gain title to the building itself.