LEWISTON - One potential suitor for Lewiston's Colisee said he may have something to say about the future of the facility next week.

Jim Cain, president of Firland Management in Veazie, Maine, said he is scheduled to meet with Mayor Larry Gilbert and City Administrator Jim Bennett this week to discuss the Colisee.

"We have had some discussions, and we continue to have discussions, but it would be inappropriate to comment further than that," he said. "But we might have more to say next week."

Firland is a management group that specializes in ice arenas and rinks throughout the country, including Louisiana, Wisconsin and Canada. It was one of the first firms Lewiston hired when it took over operations of the ice arena in 2004 and was working to combine daily traditional community ice operations - including high school and junior hockey programs - with the Lewiston Maineiacs, a semiprofessional hockey team based in Lewiston. The Maineiacs are part of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"We helped integrate some of the things they were doing, like game day operations, with the junior hockey program to make sure things worked well together," Cain said.

City Administrator Bennett said earlier this month that two groups were interested in taking the ice arena off of the city's hands. The Lewiston Urban Civic Center Enterprise, LLC's board of directors, met Tuesday morning to review offers for the facility and councilors met for more than an hour behind closed doors Tuesday night to get an update. The LUCCE board, which includes city officials and members of the Maineiacs management group, manages the arena for the city.

Nobody from the city or the Lewiston Maineiacs would say or confirm which groups have made offers for the arena.

Lewiston Maineiacs Vice President Matt McKnight said the team is not interested in purchasing the arena, but has worked with one group that is.

"It's not our goal to be in the building business," McKnight said. "We're just trying to insure the team's interests will be handled fairly."

McKnight said he would know more within a couple of weeks.

Brian Petrovek, managing owner of Portland Pirates LLC, said his group has been interested in the Colisee for the last five years. But Petrovek would not say if his group is involved in discussions with the city currently.

"We've had ongoing discussions going back many, many years and we've kept our eyes on the situation all along," Petrovek said. "We know that the Colisee is a building that could have continued success. That's where our interest lies."

The city has owned the former Central Maine Civic Center since February 2004 when it agreed to take on $4.2 million in debt and management of the center, including day-to-day operations and repairs.

Councilors gave the Colisee $650,000 in 2007 to cover two years worth of operational losses at the ice rink. That's on top of $3.2 million worth of building and equipment upgrades since the city took over.

Improvements included a $2 million facade and building addition, and interior work in 2005; and a new ice resurfacer, a portable stage, an improved compressor, boiler repairs and bathroom upgrades in 2006. The city owes $5.7 million for the Colisee and improvements.

The city began looking for potential buyers in May 2007, but received only one offer before a June 29 deadline. Two other parties sounded interested after the deadline, however.

A deal with either would mean much less city spending in the coming year. The city's draft budget for fiscal 2009 calls for $488,000 in Colisee spending.