Rocco Arbitell is hoping a meeting on Oct. 23 will at least put some type of closure date on the long journey of financial issues he’s has had over the past few years tied to the Waterford Speedbowl.
A proceeding is scheduled for that day in court in the foreclosure proceedings against the ownership of the Waterford Speedbowl.
“My lawyer has told me that that they will set the auction date on that day,” Arbitell said. “That’s when the date will be set. I know the court is tired of dragging this thing out.”
Arbitell is part of a group of creditors still owed money from a debt reorganization plan arranged through state bankruptcy court.
The group moved to have foreclosure action retaken against the Speedbowl ownership and that action began in March. The State of Connecticut Judicial Branch lists the plaintiffs in the action as Rocco Arbitell, Peter Borelli and the Committee of Sale.
In July 2007, Arbitell, a Southbury businessman and local racing supporter, along with his business associate Borrelli, stepped in to offer Eames and his ownership group, 1080 Hartford Road LLC, financing to avoid a foreclosure action being taken then by former mortgage holder Washington Mutual Bank.
The deal with Arbitell was announced a day before the track’s auction date for a foreclosure in 2007.
In May 2008 Arbitell brought his own foreclosure action against the ownership group after former track operator Jerry Robinson failed to pay the Speedbowl’s property taxes.
Facing another pending foreclosure auction, Eames and 1080 Hartford Road LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2009.A debt reorganization plan was accepted by bankruptcy court in January 2012 and the ownership cleared bankruptcy not long after that.
Arbitell said he thinks Eames will somehow stave off a foreclosure auction again.
“I still believe Terry will come up with the money somehow,” Arbitell said. “I think he’ll find a way somehow to get out of the mess, he always has before.”
Eames said Saturday that he hasn’t been told that an announcement of a foreclosure date is imminent. Eames said his attorney told him Friday that there have been no dates scheduled for any foreclosure auction actions.
Arbitell said that if the track does go to auction he may be an interested party in purchasing the facility.
“I just hope that we can keep it as a racetrack,” Arbitell said. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that can happen. I just want to put the rest of the issues behind us and get back what I’m owed.”
—- Follow RaceDayCT at Facebook
—- Follow RaceDayCT on Twitter
—————————————————————
If this is true, it is about the saddest thing I’ve heard in a long time.
Its called pay your business bills before you pay yourself. Pretty simple business 101.
Love or hate the Bowl. It’s the track that would be taken away. And it’s always a sad thing when a track is closed forever. Remember Wall Stadium? Riverside Park? And other tracks that closed for good? Sure some do come back. But if you really hope and wish for a race track to be closed. Then you need to rethink your priority of being a auto racing fan.
I hope the bowl stays forever!
“Never gonna give you up.
Never gonna let you down.
Never gonna run around and desert you.
Never gonna make you cry.
Never gonna say goodbye.
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.”
Speedbowl 2014!
I don’t go often to Waterford but I go a couple times a year. It’s always good racing and we have a great time. I cannot understand how this guy is in such horrible financial shape year after year . The place has outstanding attendance by fans and competitors. there concessions ase astronomical like all the rest . They don’t pay well or at all to the drivers. Of the four nights they operate only two require the track lights on and only one night has payouts . How can this be? I hope it doesn’t go to auction but I hope a new owner takes over cause this guy doesn’t know how to run a business effectively, or at all… If Thompson does what they say there doing with weekly reaching and Waterford goes away then all ya got is Stafford.. once these tracks close most do not come back. People keep saying there are to many tracks in ct but in one weekend we went from having three weekly tracks to potentially only one next year.. remove Eames and that ownership debacle and put in a business savvy racer and you will have success there
Yes this is sad but lets hope it works out. It has before and I think there is a good chance it will again. Plus on another note if it doesn’t work out with Terry then others are interested in buying and want to keep it as a racetrack. So I honestly feel the track will be there and in full operation next year. I do however feel the need to clear one thing up. I don’t know why but I do. Disappointed again….. both Wednesdays and Saturdays have a payout to the drivers not just one. I honestly don’t know about Friday or Sunday driver payout but on all 4 nights or actually I should say 5 if you count Thursday practice as well there is a payout to run the place. The ambulance, EMT’s, and police are not free. I do know the track has a good amount of volunteers but I doubt all volunteer so you also have employee payout. I am generally not one to jump to the tracks defense but wanted to clear up the payout thing and also I attend this track every week sometimes two or even 3 nights a week. I also attend other tracks just about weekly and I definitely would not say the attendance is outstanding. Usually a decent turnout but definitely not outstanding.
If the Speedbowl were to close it would almost certainly close forever. The track violates the noise ordinance for the city of Waterford, but there is a “grandfather” clause which basically states that the ordinance does not apply to businesses that were already in operation when the ordinance was enacted. If the Speedbowl were to close and a new owner were to attempt to resurrect the track at a later date the “grandfather” clause would no longer apply. As stated above hopefully Terry Eames can manage to get out of the financial mess (again).
Sorry Laura I’m not saying there isn’t cost associated with the 4-5 days they operate, that’s just the way business works. Im just saying some tracks operate on one night of income and do it successfully. This track based on the events run should be nowhere near foreclosure. As a business owner if the costs outway the benefit then you need to change the way you operate or in this case remove a night or two to reduce your cost…. I really think this boils down to an owner that makes sure he has a paycheck before anyone else. Towns do not want race tracks so Remove Eames and get someone else in there before the “grandfather clause” is removed otherwise it may become a parking lot.
Its impressive to me how many business Owners there are in this area that don’t know how to run a business.
I rember as a kid Danbury Race arena,Plainville,Riverside,oswego ,Wall Stadium we would make the rounds going to a differnt track every weekend then they started to close if the Bowl closes it will never re open they have been trying to Build on this propert for years why couldnt we the race fans do something like the GreenBay packers and have it owned by the citizens Someone look into this because i wouldnt know were to start
I love the place. It’s the perfect size for SKs, NEMAs and Legends cars. It has easy access and all the seats have a great view of the track. BTW, their pizza is terrific!
He had a hard enough time just paying his drivers their winnings at the end of last year and let’s take bets that happens again. Plus as a result of cutting corners and payroll he elected the worse RD in the history of the oval, himself with others to back him up and this has made a total mocker of the track. Hate to say but so long shoreline oval.
Dan, it was stated in the drivers meeting this past Saturday. If you race Saturday this week, you get paid THAT NIGHT and same for Sunday night. Terry ain’t a saint and has done a lot of things wrong, but he has been making a concerted effort to turn things around lately. If you want to bash the track, come down and join in the action this weekend and see. If we don’t support the track then it WILL go away, and then what…
not enough race fans to support the sport…thank nascar for that…all they want are premadonna rack car drivers…real race fans left racing a long time ago…to watch what they call racing on t v is nothing like the real thing… keep waterford going we lose that will lose the rest of the tracks,and away goes the sport of racing for this state……..