LV sports theme park gets last-minute financing

The owner of a $40 million sports theme park just southwest of McCarran International Airport says it has gained new financing and will open next month.

Wednesday's announcement followed a seven-month delay attributed to financing problems and Clark County's lengthy permitting process.

Despite the news, skeptical investors are taking a wait-and-see approach, having heard for months that a grand opening was just around the corner.

The nation's first All-American SportPark, at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Sunset Road, is now scheduled to open in the first week of October The park has been the site of television broadcasts on KTNV Channel 13 for its post-game show after the first two Monday night NFL football games.

Ron Boreta, chief executive officer of Saint Andrews Golf Corp., which owns the 65-acre SportPark, said the process of getting every Go-Kart at its NASCAR Speedpark checked by county inspectors took more time than expected.

But financing woes, described by the company in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, appear more responsible for opening delays.

The SEC report filed last month documents the company's inability to get a long-term loan over the past eight months. The company has continued construction through a series of short-term loans, including $5 million from its banker, $3 million from Callaway Golf Co. and $1 million from company Chairman Vaso Boreta, Ron Boreta's father.

In May, Saint Andrews sold its 80 percent interest in the adjacent Callaway Golf Center -- a lighted nine-hole par 3 course, instructional center and retail outlet -- to Callaway, canceling the $3 million loan. Boreta said the company still has an option to reacquire the center and will consider that after the park opens.

While Saint Andrews was attempting to get a new loan, company officials kept telling investors the park's opening was near. Investors grew more skeptical through July and August about the status of the park in online bulletin boards discussing the company's stock.

Since April, Saint Andrews' stock has steadily fallen from its 52-week high. The stock traded at 1 1/4 in January, the 52-week low, then shot up to 5 7/16 in April. Since then, the issue has flagged to its current level, closing Wednesday at 1 7/8, up 1/8.

Tuesday, Boreta signed an agreement to secure $13.5 million of new financing with Nevada State Bank, which he said would also result in Saint Andrews bringing on a new equity partner. But on Wednesday, Boreta would not disclose the identity of the partner.

He said most of the delays associated with the opening resulted when a deal with another financial institution collapsed. Citing the company's intent to sue for damages, Boreta did not name the funding source.

Three NASCAR tracks are among the attractions at the park, which also includes the Major League Baseball Slugger Stadium, a batting cage with replicas of famous landmarks from several baseball stadiums ringing the outfield.

The new financing was critical to the completion of a 100,000-square-foot sports entertainment complex holding the 1,500-seat Pepsi AllSport Arena. Ron Futrell's "Monday Night Quarterback" post-game show is scheduled to originate from the arena every week during the football season.

The sports entertainment complex also will be home to a 15,000-square-foot sports retail facility called the Fan Zone, a 47-foot climbing wall and Major League Munchies, a food kiosk featuring specialties from the nation's ballparks, from Fenway Franks to Dodger Dogs.

One food venue will be the 10,000-square-foot Boston Garden Experience, with the parquet floor from the famed basketball arena and the Boston Celtics' trademark leprechaun.

Also inside, a replica of the facade of the front of New York's Ebbetts Field will stand 250 feet long and 45 feet high as an indoor entrance to the Slugger Stadium. A glass wall will give spectators a ground-level view of what's happening on the Slugger Stadium field.

The park also has a 7,000-square-foot indoor putting course with a sanded surface.

Many of the 150 new employees at the park, Boreta said, are on the payroll and have begun training.

Boreta said the Las Vegas theme park is the first of what he hopes to be a nationwide chain, with outlets planned in Southern California, Orlando, Fla., and other tourist destinations.

"The park is not only for locals, but for tourists," Boreta said. "For the first time, Las Vegas will have something with good old wholesome family entertainment without the gaming spin on it."

He said within about a month of early October's soft opening there will be a celebrity-studded grand opening event at the park.

Boreta also said a suit filed against the park in July did not cause a delay in the opening. CTS Enterprises sued the company in Clark County District Court, seeking to recover $157,000 it invested in an 8,500-square-foot arcade at the park.

CTS was to design and build the arcade and operate it on a lease basis for up to 13 years. But CTS was told in April it would no longer be the arcade vendor. The CTS suit seeks to recoup the money it has spent on the venture plus more than $10 million it says it would have made over the life of the lease. Boreta said the matter is unresolved.

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