Waterford Track Foreclosure Averted
Weekly short track racing will continue for the foreseeable future in southeastern Connecticut.
A foreclosure auction of the Waterford Speedbowl property scheduled for noon Saturday was canceled this morning by a Superior Court judge in Norwich.
Terry Eames, who leads a group that owns the Waterford Speedbowl, confirmed that his group has acquired new financing to avoid the foreclosure and keep the property running as a racetrack.
Washington Mutual Bank had begun foreclosure proceedings on the property in early 2006. About two weeks ago they scheduled a foreclosure auction on the property for noon Saturday.
On Thursday, Eames and his group finalized details on a refinancing of the property, securing a new mortgage through two private individuals. On Friday morning, Norwich Superior Court judge James Devine officially ruled to cancel the auction. Eames is now free of his relationship with Washington Mutual.
Eames and his group had until 5 p.m. today to secure a deal to avoid the property going to auction.
“It’s a lot of relief right now,” Eames said. “Over the last couple days it appeared it was coming together as to the plan but I’ve learned never to take anything for granted. I finally felt like I was able to relax [Thursday evening].”
1080 Hartford Road, LLC, the group led by Eames, purchased the Speedbowl in September 2000.
Eames, who had run the Speedbowl since his group’s purchase, gave up operational control of the track after last season. His company is now leasing the track to local businessman Jerry Robinson and track general manager Bill Roth.
Eames secured new financing for the Speedbowl through local businessmen Rocco Arbitell of Southbury and Peter Borelli of Derby.
Eames also recently finalized a deal to sell eight of the 39 acres the Speedbowl sits on to Harvey Industries, which intends to build a distribution center on site.
“It’s really nice how it came together,” Eames said. “Rocco and his wife and the Borellis, they’re getting paid for loaning me the money and doing the mortgage, but it was done as much as support for the track and support for me. They are real race fans and I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me. I also can’t thank my attorney, Tom Londregan, enough. He remained a true gentleman through this whole thing. He stuck with me and made excellent legal decisions that helped us to reach this point.”
Sources: Shawn Courchesne/The Hartford Courant