LEWISTON — Mill Town Sports and Entertainment, the prospective buyer of The Colisée, said the building has not “closed its doors” and that the company continues to work toward a sale.

The statement followed a news release Wednesday by Hamid Circus of New Jersey, which notified ticket holders that circus dates scheduled for May 8, 9 and 10 at The Colisée are canceled.

“The Colisée is closing its doors immediately and canceling all future events, including hockey, at the facility due to a lack of operating and payroll funds,” the statement said.

Hamid Circus’ statement was premature, said Nate Bostic, owner of Mill Town Sports. The business, which has leased the property for nearly a year to keep popular hockey programs moving, is “still working daily to purchase The Colisée.”

Bostic said Thursday morning that T&M Investments of Lewiston, the main lender on deck to provide $2.65 million toward the $4.9 million purchase, had fallen through.

“We are currently in this gray area where the lease is up and we’re trying to get funding after losing a few different key parts to closing on this,” Bostic said.

One of those parts is a $250,000 loan from the city of Lewiston, which Bostic said has not yet come through. The city loan comes with conditions; chief among them is closing of the sale.

Mill Town Sports’ predicament may mean having to cancel events, but that is only due to the short amount of time to promote and advertise them, Bostic said.

“Realistically, we don’t really have any events in there until hockey season,” he said. “I’m still optimistic we can make something happen with the purchase by that point.”

Continuing on some 20 months of efforts to purchase The Colisée, Mill Town Sports principles are meeting with potential lenders and banks, Bostic said.

Thus far, Mill Town Sports has invested $1.3 million in the property including a new parking lot and roof, he said.

“We kept showing up when it was hard and we’ll keep showing up to make sure the legacy of The Colisée continues,” Bostic said.

Among The Colisée’s future events are school graduations. Graduation will still take place there for Central Maine Community College on May 14, said Andrew Morong, dean of enrollment management at the college.

“We’ve been working with the staff there for weeks and weeks and weeks. Everything is on as scheduled,” Morong said Thursday morning.

Officials at Turner’s Leavitt Area High School, which also holds graduation at The Colisée, was not available for comment Thursday. It is school vacation week.

Darryl Antonacci, who represents Firland Management LLC, which owns The Colisée, said Thursday there was never any plan to shut down the arena for upcoming events.

“I would never kick the high school graduation out,” he said. “They’re going to be able to come in for the day and have their thing.”

Antonacci described the situation as a scenario where Firland Management is the landlord and Bostic is a tenant who has been unable to come up with rent.

Bostic, whom Antonacci described as “a good guy and a hard worker,” has the option to renew the lease or to purchase The Colisée outright. Whether he can find the funding for that remains to be seen.

“He needs to find some deep pockets,” Antonacci said. “It’s a good community. People really do want to support him, but when it gets to the town, they shut it down and the big guys with big pockets aren’t coming to the table to help them.”

Efforts to involve the city in the purchase have been difficult, Bostic agreed.

Under a previous proposal, Antonacci agreed to defer $1.4 million of the $4.9 million purchase price and allow Mill Town to pay that $1.4 million over time, with the city guaranteeing Antonacci would be paid.

After the City Council balked at the deal, Mill Town Sports was able to come to an agreement with T&M Investments, Antonacci, and the city that would split the $4.9 million purchase into a $2.65 million loan, $2 million deferment paid over time and the city’s $250,000 loan.

Lewiston city officials were following the developments Thursday and waiting to see if Bostic can recover from having his lender bow out.

“I hope that Mr. Bostic can regroup and find another source of financing,” said Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline on Thursday. “Failing that, I hope that the owner can pivot quickly. The Colisée remains an important part of Lewiston’s economic future.”

Lewiston City Councilor David B. Chittim of Ward 6 said the city has not transferred any funds to Bostic, nor will it until all overdue balances are paid and the closing has occurred.

“I cannot speak for the council,” he said. “For myself, I am sorry to see this deal fall apart so quickly. I had hoped that Nate Bostic would be able to pull off what I considered to be a long shot.”

Gil Rogers, president of Midcoast Youth Hockey Junior Polar Bears, issued a statement hours after the Hamid Circus statement saying the circus’s announcement reflects poor ticket sales and a misunderstanding of Mill Town Sports’ situation. 

Rogers said he is in contact with Bostic who he says has been working “tirelessly” to “identify every solution possible to take control of the building from its out of state ownership and support more local programming.” 

Rogers noted, however, “The statement from the circus signals challenges for The Colisée financially.”

The city’s loan has many strings attached that have “slowed other elements of the transaction,” Rogers said, adding that his organization’s plans to expand at The Colisée, as with others like Lewiston High School’s hockey program, continue.

Staff Writer Emily Duggan contributed to this report.