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NEWS ARCHIVE
Friday June 6, 2003
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux dropped the gloves yesterday, threatening to move the Penguins out of town if a new arena isn't built for the franchise.
Lemieux said the team -- which has had to slash its payroll and unload most of its big-name players because of escalating costs -- "has no future here" if local government does not provide funding for a new arena.
It was the first time Lemieux had made such a statement publicly.
Lemieux, for years the team's star player and now also the owner, criticized Pittsburgh and Allegheny County leaders for their lack of effort in securing funding for a new arena to replace the 42-year-old Mellon Arena.
Lemieux said he feels betrayed because promises that were made to him in 1999, when he purchased the franchise, have not been kept.
"The arena [issue] has been very frustrating for all of us," Lemieux said yesterday during a news conference at the Club at Nevillewood, the site of his four-day Mellon Mario Lemieux Celebrity Invitational.
"We've been working on this for two years. I'm very disappointed in the efforts of the city and the county. It's been frustrating. Nothing's being done from their side. And we have to know soon.
"I'd like to think it would happen, but right now I'm not so sure, with the effort they've put forth, which is not there. Time is running out."
County Chief Executive Jim Roddey and Mayor Tom Murphy hurriedly issued statements responding to Lemieux's criticism.
Both said the team is important to the city and the region but insisted that with both governments facing tough financial times, there just isn't city or county tax revenue available for a new arena.
The Penguins' current lease at Mellon Arena expires at the end of the 2006-07 season -- May or June 2007, when the team would be free to move.
"This franchise is a free agent in 2007," Lemieux said. "Hopefully, they understand that."
Lemieux said the Penguins were hoping to move into a new facility for the start of the 2006-07 season, meaning October 2006.
But, he added, that objective could not be reached unless local officials approved a financing plan for a new arena in the next two months. It takes about one year to draw up architectural plans for a new arena and two more years to build it.
"I really care about this city and this franchise. I'll do whatever I can to make this work. But if I'm the only one who wants to make it happen, you can't do that. We need teamwork here with the city, the county and the state."
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