Alachua County Commission votes to take over operation of Sports and Events Center

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the July 8 Alachua County Commission meeting, the board voted to take over the operation of their Sports and Events Center from the current operator, which was declared to be in default of its contract.

On June 6, Alachua County sent a Notice of Default to Viking Companies, owned by Svein Dyrkolbotn, warning that a subsidiary’s contract to operate the County’s Sports and Events Center at Celebration Pointe could be terminated if the company failed to pay over $500,000 in CDD assessments and provide missing financial information within 30 days.

Click here to read about the County’s Notice of Default letter to Viking Companies.

Today, County Manager Michele Lieberman told the County Commission that although the 30-day grace period extends to July 10, the July 8 meeting is the only July meeting for the Commission. She said the operator responded in writing to the Notice of Default, and “that response didn’t directly address the default itself.” The operator provided some options: one option was a 12-month extension of the operating agreement and the renegotiation of some terms, and another option was transitioning the operations of the facility to the County on January 1, 2026.

Operator did not dispute any of the alleged defaults or propose a plan to cure them

Lieberman said staff’s recommendation to the Commission was for the board to find that the operator “did not dispute any of the alleged defaults, did not state that it had or would cure the defaults, nor did it propose a plan to cure the alleged defaults.” The recommendation was that the board find that the proposed transition period is too long and that October 1 would be a more appropriate date for the County to take over the operation of the Sports and Events Center. 

Staff recommended that the board should direct the County Manager to send a written Notice of Termination for Cause to the operator if they do not cure all the defaults by 5 p.m. on July 11 and authorize her to negotiate a transition agreement with the operator to provide limited operations through September 30; the recommendation states that this date prevents or minimizes disruption to summer camps and other events scheduled through September 30 and provides an orderly transition. The recommended motion included an authorization to use $250,000 in General Fund reserves to pay for expenses “deemed necessary by the County Manager to prevent or minimize the risk of disrupting the summer camps and other events currently scheduled… before September 30.”

Lieberman said she would bring staff’s recommendation for the operation of the facility to the Commission in August, along with a budget for Fiscal Year 2026 and a staffing plan.

Motion

Commissioner Mary Alford made a motion to approve the staff recommendation and asked whether staff would continue trying to get documentation of the operating expenses and the actual costs incurred by the operator.

Lieberman said all of those documents have to be turned over to the County as part of the transition, and staff has “a general idea already of what it costs to operate, just from conversations.”

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler seconded the motion.

Prizzia: “We have no idea what we’re taking on.”

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said she was concerned that “we have no idea what we’re taking on. I’m concerned that this is directing staff to automatically bring it in-house.” She wanted more information before deciding “if it still makes sense for us to contract operations with an organization that does this kind of thing and to fully understand those options before we dive in with creating a whole County department that operates a Sports Events Center.”

Lieberman: “To be clear, the County has to operate this facility, at least probably for the next foreseeable budget year.”

Lieberman responded, “To be clear, the County has to operate this facility, at least probably for the next foreseeable budget year… or we’re going to just have to close the doors until we get an operator” because it will take time to create a Scope of Work and go through an RFP process to select a new operator, assuming the board decides to enter into another contract with an operator. She said staff would present the options and their recommendations in August.

Prizzia pointed out that the utility bills alone would be a significant cost for the County, and given that the board was scheduled to set their maximum property tax millage that evening, she was concerned that they might need to make late adjustments to the budget. Lieberman, however, said, “I think we will be fine” and added that she did not foresee a need to add additional millage.

Wheeler said she was comfortable with hiring an operator because the County also does that with the Equestrian Center; she added, “This is business now. This is just business, you know – the friendship thing, you know, it’s not interfering in this at all.”

During public comment, Tamara Robbins said, “I’ve been anticipating and looking forward to this day for almost two years… I agree with you guys taking it over.” She suggested putting staff in the facility and opening the doors so the public can shoot baskets, run on the track, and play pickleball. Robbins also warned that Celebration Pointe could “implement a massive parking fee” to use the parking garage, and the Sports and Events Center has no parking of its own.

Prizzia asked Lieberman to make sure any future agreements include parking, “particularly when we have vendors,” and Lieberman said the County would “do what we can to get an agreement on the parking garage as soon as possible.”

The motion passed unanimously.