Peaks arena rent paid

PROVO — Seven Peaks Management Co. president Max Rabner skated out of the penalty box Friday afternoon.

Rabner deposited a cashier's check for the balance owed on his lease of The Peaks Ice Arena more than an hour before a court-imposed 5 p.m. deadline. Rabner had posted $200,000 with the 4th District Court Monday, the initial deadline for him to post the rents due on the 2002 Winter Olympic hockey venue for 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan agreed Thursday to grant Seven Peaks an extension until Friday but promised to award immediate possession of the publicly owned 2002 Winter Olympic hockey venue to the Provo City/Utah County Ice Sheet Authority if Rabner did not pay the remaining $86,381.14 on time.

Now Rabner will maintain possession of the arena at least until the completion of the Ice Sheet Authority's lawsuit to terminate his lease.

"We have complied completely with the court's directions," said David Pinkston, Rabner's attorney. "Mr. Rabner is entitled to remain in possession of the arena through the course of the litigation."

Pullan originally ordered Rabner to deposit the rents with the court last fall, but Rabner couldn't raise the money despite two deadline extensions. Pullan declined to evict Rabner but offered the Ice Sheet Authority a different option: If it posted a $3.5 million bond with the court to secure Rabner's claimed investment in the arena, the judge would give Rabner 10 days to deposit the rent with the court or be evicted.

The Ice Sheet Authority's board of directors pursued that option vigorously, which included votes by the Provo City Council and Utah County commissioners to approve the bond, purchased for $21,000 and posted May 2.

"There's been a lot of effort expended to get Seven Peaks Management Co. to comply with the judge's order of Sept. 14, 2004," Ice Sheet Authority attorney Jesse Trentadue said. "We're disappointed only in the sense that obeyance of the judge's orders is something that should been done months ago. We shouldn't have had to go to these lengths."

The next step is the resumption of the lawsuit.

"The lawsuit goes on because the Ice Sheet Authority terminated the lease," Trentadue said. "When Seven Peaks Management Co. did not pay, the lease gave the authority the right to terminate. Seven Peaks did not pay the rent for 2003, 2004 and 2005."