Arena for sale

Friday, January 14, 2011
This sale sign sits in front of the Crossroads USA Arena and Expo Center in Cloverdale. The building is in receivership after Huntington National Bank filed a lawsuit against the owners for failing to make payments on the loan used to purchase the arena.

CLOVERDALE -- Crossroads USA Arena and Expo Center in Cloverdale is up for sale.

Huntington National Bank (HNB) has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the arena, and the facility has been placed in receivership.

According to court documents, attorneys for HNB first filed complaints against Steve Jackson, Brent McCammack and James Skinner of Crossroads USA Arena & Expo Inc. on Jan. 14, 2010 for failure to make payments on the loan used to fund the purchase of Crossroads.

The owners of Crossroads filed for bankruptcy in late February 2010. All pending litigation in the case was put on hold when the bankruptcy was filed.

A summary judgment and decree of foreclosure against the defendants for $4.8 million has been granted, and Cassidy Turley Midwest Inc. was named the receiver of the property.

According to law.com, receivership is "the process of appointment by a court of a receiver to take custody of the property, business, rents and profits of a party to a lawsuit pending a final decision on disbursement or an agreement that a receiver control the financial receipts of a person who is deeply in debt (insolvent) for the benefit of creditors."

Construction on Crossroads began in 2007. The arena opened on March 1, 2008.

Crossroads has been host to Indiana Quarter Horse Association sanctioned shows, the Blue Denim Charity Horse Show, the National Congress for American Shetland Pony Club and other equestrian events. It has also been home to monster truck events, a bike race and rodeos.

Robert Perry, attorney for the defendants, declined to comment on the case.

Phone calls to representatives from Crossroads were not returned as of press time.

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  • Wow. That worked out well.

    -- Posted by ProblemTransmission on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 12:17 AM
  • what responsible bank would loan that amount of money on a speculative project like this with no proven record? Shouldn't you start small and then grow as you have success? Huntington Bank deserves to have to eat this.

    -- Posted by albert on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 7:49 AM
  • "Huntington National Bank filed a lawsuit against the owners for not failing to make payments on the loan"

    For "not failing" to make payments? Does this mean they made payments? Proofread!

    -- Posted by Geologist on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 8:13 AM
  • I know a guy who lost 50 k in two shares of stock on it, he was bragging before it open how good of an investment it was, "a fool and his money will soon be departed"....Gordon Gecko.

    -- Posted by tru story on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 8:13 AM
  • I remember when they first came to town with a lot of hoopla. They were going to do big things. How the mighty have fallen. Maybe the government should bail them out. NOT!

    -- Posted by not gullible on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 9:15 AM
  • Wow, why all the hateful comments? Very sad, Crossroads put Cloverdale on the map and brought in alot of business for Putnam Co. hotels and restaurants.

    -- Posted by mlooper on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 10:20 AM
  • "put Cloverdale on the map?" Umm,sure it did,lol. There is nothing significant that u could build in this area that will attract any substancial consistant patronage.Only a Branson,Mo type creation would and thats not happening. Eventually,everyone will realize the track record of new businesses locally and county wide.I have some hope for bw3 simply because of the university,but not sure,thought that about Sonic too.the horse park was a nice idea,evidently just not enuff homework done in the feasabilty studiess....

    -- Posted by taintedtown on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 11:40 AM
  • "How the mighty have fallen"? This was a group of local, small business owners who tried to accomplish something big. If no one ever took risk, there would never be jobs created for anyone. It did put Cloverdale on the map, as I knew of people in the Zionsville area who were excited about the facility opening in Indiana.

    They may have had too much debt, but there were other circumstances that contributed to the problem. 1. By the time the project got off the ground, the price of gas had shot up, severely hurting a business that depends on people pulling trailers across the country. 2. The economic slump that effected any luxury industry, which show horses are for most people.

    This is a real loss for Putnam County.

    -- Posted by aveben on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 1:08 PM
  • That was a great way to put it aveben. It was a great idea and a lot a things went on besides horse shows. It was great for local businesses well Foreign owned businesses near the interstate when horse shows, livestock sales and don't forget the monster truck show that came thru. You could not get near the fast food places or rent a room. This is the sign of the economy.

    Oh and VolunteerFF Go read it again! It states "for failure to make payment". Which if I remember is correct but then again I did shell out money for one of them there fancy education thingies.

    -- Posted by feedupincdale on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 1:29 PM
  • feedupincdale.... the statement "not failing" is mentioned with the pic - not in the article.

    -- Posted by BGreader on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 1:55 PM
  • Yeah... Putnam County is full of people who don't bother to dream about something bigger. It's much easier to live your whole life sitting on your couch where it's safe and cheer for others who try and fail.

    -- Posted by conffool on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 2:23 PM
  • You don't remember the Nancy Michaels project called the "Spec Building" (speculation) that we locals are going to be paying on for eternity? Or the 20 years of tax abatement on the ethanol plant? We need to adopt an attitude of we don't want you to waste our money anymore; it's called Fiscal Responsibility and it's not the counties' money, it's ours.

    -- Posted by alfr1 on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 2:46 PM
  • I think Huntington National Bank is a sponsor of the COLTS, they should be use to losing money, maybe Cloverdale could get the Colts here for summer camp, now that would put Cloverdale on the map!!

    -- Posted by luvmycountry on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 2:47 PM
  • Read the caption feedupincdale. Oh and by the way, did you mean to be fed up or to feed up? LOL at your fancy education thingie!!!

    -- Posted by Geologist on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 3:00 PM
  • I think it's a shame that there are still people in this community who don't believe in small, locally owned businesses.

    -- Posted by townielove on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 3:09 PM
  • I am not sure what happened with this situation but to the person who said this put Cloverdale on the map, you are correct at least as far as people who show horses. My trainer went last year and is going again this year too, it is the only show before a very big one in Tulsa, OK. We haul from SE Iowa and spend money in your town on food, gas, lodging and anything else we may have forgot at home.

    -- Posted by horsechic on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 7:57 PM
  • Turn it into a ymca or sometype of recreational complex!

    -- Posted by Hungry&Fat on Fri, Jan 14, 2011, at 11:18 PM
  • We sure knew this wouldn't be in the headlines for very long. There's probably a lot of people that wish they hadn't invested in the arnea, and a lot that are glad they didn't. Sorry this arnea didn't make it, to much partying and poor management and a few other important factors.

    -- Posted by fed-up2010 on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, at 6:20 AM
  • Well hopefully someone can do something with it soon so its not just sitting there. Its a real sad thing that businesses cant survive long! ANd that is a good idea Hungry&Fat...something useful for kids would be great as well

    -- Posted by karma54 on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, at 9:16 AM
  • Sorry to hear about Crossroad's problems. We have relatives in the area and stay at a motel in Cloverdale when we visit. On one occasion we could not get a room there because of an event taking place at the arena. This will be a big loss to the whole community.

    Hopefully there will be a buyer that will put it to good use.

    -- Posted by Abigailone on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, at 11:06 AM
  • It was ambitious. I liked the attempt. 2007 was a different economic climate than now. I am wondering if the complainers have supplied one job to anyone around here? Doubt it. And don't say your taxes have.... there aren't 10 people in this county that pay enough to feed one other family.. so the answer is no... you haven't supplied one full job locally. The ethanol plant has, and will again. And these people would have loved to as well. Just sorry it didn't work out. Had they started this 5 years earlier, it may have flown and survived the economic crunch.

    -- Posted by Pojoe on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, at 11:45 AM
  • I have had so many great memories at Crossroads that I will never forget. I hate to see this happen. The economy really hit them hard. The arena brought many people to the town of cloverdale but cloverdale didnt seem to appriciate the arena. Good Luck to Steve, Jim, and Brent. Know that there are people that will miss the arena.

    -- Posted by cowgirl13 on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, at 8:14 PM
  • I hate to see this happen - it is a nice facility. There was no way for the owners to prospect the economic crunch that was about to happen when it was first financed - no one saw it coming. If they had, I doubt any decent financial institution would have secured the loan in the first place. My understanding is that after it was built, the cost to just heat the building rose 3 times the original cost. It's expensive to travel wit horses - as fuel costs rose - everyone began cutting back - horse owners included. I hope something works out.

    -- Posted by Scripted Spontaneity on Sat, Jan 15, 2011, at 10:42 PM
  • I think it is wrong to bash the builders and their ideas. They put their money up and did something other than just wish for an arena.

    History has shown us that we are in an entertainment rich country, offering many venues for your entertainment dollar. Nowadays, with the ailing economy, the "entertainment money" is drying up and barely enough "survival money" to live on.

    I laughed at the suggestion to make it a YMCA, yeah, a 5 acre gym!! Their aren't enough people in Putnam County that care about their health to buy enough memberships to pay the smallest expense of that building.

    Chances are, it will be liquidated, and turned into a warehouse,,,, then we get to see semi's hammering up and down that road continously, while providing 14 to 18 jobs locally.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Sun, Jan 16, 2011, at 7:07 AM
  • I wish we could report on different news instead of arrest and bankruptcy. 5 of 25 news stories compared to 1 of 25 at brazil times. I hope all the criminals become rehabilitated and the bankrupt reorganize and pay there debt.

    -- Posted by farmer on Sun, Jan 16, 2011, at 7:43 PM
  • Sorry to hear of this place failing. Hopefully someone will keep it alive and build on the original dream. My associates and I have been tossing around some ideas for a big project in Cloverdale (think high-end hotel), but if this place fails it would probably kill that idea.

    -- Posted by Clovertucky on Mon, Jan 17, 2011, at 6:40 PM
  • I took my daughters to a show here a year or so ago. It was nice, sad to see it didn't work out.

    -- Posted by Brad Hayes on Wed, Jan 19, 2011, at 10:58 AM
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