Augusta Colts General Manager Calls Coliseum Authority On The Carpet

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By NBCAugusta Reporters

The General Manager of the Augusta Colts says the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority isn't keeping its lease agreement with his team.

A little more than a week before kick off and Augusta Colts General Manager John Sisson say his team is having a hard time getting ready for their first game.

Sisson says the arena did not follow the proper procedure to clean a $50,000 piece of artificial turf. Originally the turf was to be cleaned inside the arena. But Sisson says since time was running out he met with the Coliseum Authority Wednesday and he agreed to allow the turf to be cleaned outdoors providing it would be secured and protected from the outdoor elements.

"The agreement was that they would cover it and we had cars driving on it. bird seed and a bandage covering it," said Sisson.

NBC Augusta spoke with the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority's General Manager Robert "Flash" Gordon and the Operations Manager Eddie Rhodes. They say there is no lease agreement with the Colts.

We also talked to the Coliseum Authority's Chairman, Harry Moore. Moore says there is a lease agreement with the Colts. He says the owner of the Colts assumed the Augusta Spartans' lease when the indoor football team's name was changed from the Spartans to the Colts last year.

NBC Augusta is the only station to obtain a copy of that agreement with the Colts. In it, we found that the Coliseum Authority was required to leave the turf down for three consecutive days for cleaning and painting. And that's something Sisson said did not happen.

Thursday, Mar 6 at 10:29 PM Mr Tim wrote ...

It's just another example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand it doing at the Civic Center. It seems to me that the Colts contract would be considered a major revenue source to the CC and they would (a) be aware of what's in the contract and (b) comply with it. They wouldn't last long in the real world.

Thursday, Mar 6 at 12:30 PM Mrs. Puckett wrote ...

Unbelievable…but then again…yes, this is to be expected! Mr. Sisson, keep your head up and keep fighting the good fight. You are trying to do a good thing by keeping events in the arena and bringing in good, family entertainment. Too bad the new, superbly managed USCA Convocation Center is not large enough for this sport! It won’t be anyone’s fault if the James Brown Arena suffers from “empty seat syndrome” this spring/summer…. No one but their own!

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