LEWISTON – Employees at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee will get the rest of the week off as new operators Firland Management Inc. prepare to take over.

Monday was the last day Comcast subsidiary Global Spectrum was in charge of the ice arena, and City Administrator Jim Bennett said Firland and owner Jim Cain were not expected to begin moving into office space there until Friday.

Councilors last week approved a deal that puts Firland in charge of the ice arena and lets him purchase it for $1 million. Payments would begin in 2013, according to the deal.

“The Maineiacs office will still be open, but they’ll be the only ones,” Bennett said. “Global Spectrum is closing up, and except for accounts payable, there’s not going to be anyone left associated with their operation.”

Bennett said he did not know how Cain and Firland would staff the arena, and whether former Colisee employees would be brought back.

“That’s really up to him, and I’m not sure that he’s indicated what he plans to do,” Bennett said.

The city hired Global Spectrum to manage the ice arena in 2005, hoping that the company’s connection to media conglomerate Comcast would help increase the number of scheduled acts there from about 10 to 36 per year. That didn’t happen, however, and city leaders began advertising the Colisee for sale last summer.

According to the deal, Cain has until April 2009 to purchase the ice arena. The company will act as managers until that transfer takes place. Councilors decided last week to require $250,000 in collateral from Cain as a show of good faith. Cain on Friday took out a mortgage on a home he owns in Prince Edward Island as collateral, Bennett said.

The city is hoping to trade that mortgage into an insured performance bond this summer.

“Firland has agreed to meet certain requirements under the contract – maintain the facility, keep the bills paid and things like that,” Bennett said. “If he does not, the city has the right to collect that collateral.”

With a performance bond, a third party would hold the bond. If Firland doesn’t fulfill its agreement, the city can simply collect that money.

“The way the mortgage works, we’d have to foreclose on the property and turn around and sell it,” Bennett said. “So the performance bond would work much better and be much faster for the community.”

Meanwhile, a petition seeking to overturn the sale had collected a total of 16 signatures by 3 p.m. Monday. A group of 10 city voters filed the petition Thursday to suspend the pending sale and put the matter before voters.

Sale opponents have until mid-September to convince 1,000 other registered voters to come to Lewiston City Hall and sign the petition. The Colisee’s sale would go to voters in November 2009 if the petition is successful.