NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Ohio Sports Park developer Larry Vassil has until Jan. 22 to come up with another means of financing the cash-strapped complex and repay creditors who have filed suit for non-payment for lights and other equipment.

Unless Vassil can come up with a new source of funds before a hearing before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Edward Zaleski on Jan. 22, the $3.6 million, 67-acre sports park could end up in receivership to be managed by a court-appointed official.

“He has until Jan. 22 to get his own financing and not lose the property,” North Ridgeville Law Director Andrew Crites said.
Vassil’s troubles can be traced to losing investor backing early on, according to Crites.

“He lost financing at the get-go due to the implosion of the economy and cold feet on behalf of some business partners. Unfortunately, this left him under-capitalized in one of the worst financial climates of the last 50 years,” Crites said.

Vassil has claimed that he spent roughly $750,000 for some 50 lights affixed atop 70-foot poles at the park off Lorain Road near the Ohio Turnpike. He also has maintained he invested $1.6 million of his own money in the park, which opened in the spring of 2009.

The Richfield resident is facing a breach of contract lawsuit from Professional Electric Products Co., an Eastlake company that alleges the park owes it some $540,000 for lights, poles and other equipment installed at the park’s eight baseball, softball and soccer fields.

He’s also contending with lawsuits filed by South Shore Electric, which says it is owed $142,300, and Don Mould’s Plantation, a local company that claims it is owed nearly $475,000 for landscaping work.

Vassil has been forthright about his problems, according to Crites.

“He opened his books formally (in a deposition) and informally. Clearly, there’s no funny business here. He just didn’t have enough capital at the get-go to be able to build it out. He was impacted by forces largely out of his control,” Crites said.

Crites said Vassil is continuing his efforts to secure financing through bank loans or additional investors.

Calls to Vassil’s cell phone and his office at Ohio Sports Park went unreturned Tuesday.

“All parties would be far better served if Vassil finds some money,” Crites said. “The best plan is for creditors to get paid on their liens and for (a planned bar-restaurant) to be completed.”

The park also got into a summer-long spat with neighboring Aut-O-Rama Twin Drive-In, whose owners filed suit, alleging that the sports park’s tall lights were hurting its business by causing glare or shadows on its movie screens.

Vassil eventually put up shielding and re-aimed certain lights to reduce glare but said the squabble cost the complex thousands of dollars in lost revenue when some tournament sponsors pulled out after court-imposed lighting restrictions requiring all games to be completed by 10 p.m.

“They’re still booking tournaments (for 2010),” Mayor David Gillock said. “I hope they can get this straightened out for his sake, but if it’s not Vassil (running the park), then it’ll be somebody else.”

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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