PORTLAND – A developer who has proposed building a new sports and entertainment arena in Portland or Westbrook canceled his planned meeting today with the Cumberland County Civic Center board of trustees.

Jason Synder, who has suggested building a new 8,000-seat arena, had asked to talk to the trustees about his proposal and a recommendation to turn the Civic Center into a convention center. Snyder is one of the developers of a proposed $300 milion retail and commercial project in Westbrook, to be called Stroudwater Place.

Snyder on Monday night called Neal Pratt, the chair of the trustee board, to cancel, Pratt said. Snyder told him that his presentation wasn’t ready and did not suggest an alternative meeting date, Pratt said.

Pratt said he told Snyder that the trustees would have to continue with their work on developing a possible renovation plan for the Civic Center, which is the home rink of the Portland Pirates hockey team and also hosts a number of touring concerts and other events.

The Civic Center has a task force working on a renovation plan, which will likely include new premium seating areas, possibly luxury boxes and a number of other improvements. The civic center is nearly 35 years old and is rapidly nearing obsolencense if upgrades aren’t made, Pratt has said.

The task force is waiting for a report from consultants on renovation plans and could make its recommendation to the full trustee board within a few weeks.

“We are not prepared to delay (that timetable) based, apparently, on speculation,” Pratt said.

 

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