City of Augusta sues over XPR flop, stadium’s ‘state of destruction’

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The city is suing the people who were behind an undelivered promise to host a weeklong music and lifestyle festival at a reinvigorated Lake Olmstead Stadium – a plan that excited many but left them disappointed and awaiting refunds for the tickets they’d bought.

“Just to see how this all transpired, it’s really been disappointing,” said Augusta Commission member Brandon Garrett.

The Development Authority of Augusta and the city of Augusta filed suit Friday against C4 Live LLC, which announced the XPR festival that was to take place during golf week last year, featuring artists including Jimmy Buffett, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Nelly, and Pit Bull.

“We heard about the acts that they wanted to bring. They had a track record for some of their Super Bowl parties that they had done around the country. We thought it was gonna be a really good partnership,” Garrett said.

Not long before the concerts were to take place, they were canceled when the organizer claimed there were some sort of soil stability problems on the grounds.

“They did some demo work on the inside. They demoed one of the stands. They did some remediation work on the inside as well, because of some mildew. But it looks like a lot of the costs that they’ve spent here has been kind of soft cost,” said Garrett.

According to the lawsuit, the authority received a proposal from C4 Live to sublease the stadium and parking areas to carry out an economic development project at the stadium.

Although the defendant was obligated to make certain improvements under the sublease, the company has abandoned the project at the stadium, “refusing to perform said improvements due to alleged ‘subsurface conditions,’” according to the lawsuit.

The defendant was fully aware of the soil conditions as they existed prior to performing any work at the stadium, according to the lawsuit.

“Upon information and belief, Defendant abandoned the project at the Stadium for its own economic reasons unrelated to any subsurface conditions,” the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit states that the sublease specifically provides that the defendant “shall remain responsible for any damage or casualty to the stadium or parking areas by its actions or the actions of its guests, contractors, invitees, customers, and others for whom it may have a legal responsibility. The defendant shall repair, restore and correct any such damage or casualty at its own expense, according to the lawsuit.

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However, the lawsuit alleges the defendant failed to surrender the stadium and parking areas in good order and repair.

“Namely, Defendant and/or Defendant’s agents or contractors have severely damaged the Stadium and removed fixtures therefrom,” the lawsuit states.

“Defendant left the Stadium in a state of destruction and caused it to be unusable,” the lawsuit alleges.

The city claims it has been injured “in an amount to be specifically proven at trial,” but no less than $1 million, according to the lawsuit.

Additionally, “Defendant has been overtly stubborn and litigious in the attempted resolution of this matter, and by its actions have forced Plaintiffs to file the present action, and consequently have caused Plaintiffs unnecessary trouble and expense,” the lawsuit alleges.

Therefore, the city claims it is “entitled to recover all of its costs for prosecuting the instant action including reasonable attorney’s fees” related to the case.

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