Closing came on the
last day of a 30-day grace
period to avoid forfeiting his previous payment
of $2.2 million.
The delay worried Mayor Bill Paxton
and other civic leaders, who said a contract
for next year’s quilt show should have been
signed weeks ago. Immediately after learning
of the closing, American Quilter’s Society
attorney David Denton left a voice message
with Singh’s lawyer, Jeff Wallace of
Louisville, seeking a meeting today.“Now that the sale is out of the way, I’m
hoping that the AQS contract is the No. 1
priority,” Denton said.
Wallace said he doubted he could resume
quilt show talks until early next week. He
declined to discuss contract terms, but said,“I fully anticipate the show to be in Paducah
in 2008.”
Singh told the Sun in April that the proposed
quit show contract was unacceptable
because it didn’t allow him to adequately
share in profits from vendors
who rented space in the hotel
and convention center. He also
said he wanted to talk about the
number of free rooms requested
by show organizers.
On Thursday, he declined to
talk about specific pending issues.“There is nothing that cannot
be resolved,” he said. “I have no
doubt we can achieve a contract.”
Quilt show officials have said
their contract terms are the
same as with Holsapple.
Paxton said the contract must
be transferable to another owner
if Singh should sell, and must allow
only AQS vendors to be in the
hotel during the show. Another
key issue is whether there will be
added charges for the Paducah
Expo Center and Julian Carroll
Convention Center, he said.
Singh leases both centers from
the convention center board.
Board Chairman Jim Sigler said
he will stress to “both sides” that
the contract issues must be resolved
immediately.
Otherwise,
Paducah
stands to lose
millions in
revenue from
the show,
which annually
draws tens
of thousands
of quilters worldwide.“I’m optimistic,” Sigler said.“But we’ve got some work to do.”
Although the 2008 contract is
the immediate priority, the 25-
year-old inn needs considerable
upgrading to keep the quilt show
in Paducah long term, Paxton
said. Singh hasn’t made any
significant improvements since
taking control of the hotel nearly
a year ago, he said.“We’ve had professional
people tell us it would take $20
million over and above the purchase
price to make that a nice
hotel, and that’s pretty much
what we’re kind of planning on,”
Paxton said.
Singh would not say how much
money he intends to spend on
the hotel.
By Joe Walker
Sun Business Editor, jwalker@paducahsun.com
As published in the Paducah Sun on July 13, 2007 |
