By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Pelham City Council will again hear from a company interested in purchasing the Pelham Civic Complex during its Sept. 10 work session, council members announced during an Aug. 20 meeting.

During the Sept. 10 meeting, representatives from SportsPlex of America will speak with council members about the possibility of the company purchasing the complex from the city.

“We were contacted by Pat DeLorenzo (with SportsPlex), and he said he would like to come to our work session on the 10^th and make a presentation to us,” said City Council President Teresa Nichols. “Again, we are just listening to what he has to say.”

The Sept. 10 meeting will mark the second time SportsPlex has approached the council about purchasing the Civic Complex in the past three months. During a June 18 work session, DeLorenzo and other SportsPlex officials told the council the company is looking to either purchase and renovate the Civic Complex or build a new ice facility in Hoover.

DeLorenzo said city officials over the past several weeks worked with LiveNation, the owner of the Oak Mountain Amphitheater, to determine if SportsPlex could purchase the property.

“That issue has been cleared,” DeLorenzo said. “We want the people there (in Pelham) to know that we are serious and we are capable.”

If SportsPlex purchases the Civic Complex, the company will complete between $3 million-$4 million in renovations to the facility.

“We see a great potential with that facility. We see that there is great potential if the right people are in the right places,” DeLorenzo said. “I think that private ownership, even if it’s a private-public partnership, is the way to go.”

City officials previously said the Civic Complex has been losing between $900,000 and $1 million a year for more than a decade.

During the June 18 work session, council members shared differing opinions about selling the Civic Complex.

The Sept. 10 work session will begin at 5 p.m. in the Pelham City Hall council chambers, and is open to the public.