The Vermont Coyotes basketball team announced this month that the upcoming season will be their last playing at the Barre Civic Center, known as the “Aud.” The team and the city of Barre disagree over the use of the space beyond games and official practices.
Brandy Marie, the team’s staff performance analyst, said it felt natural to bring the team to Barre when they started the state’s only minor-league basketball team in 2024. The Barre Civic Center has been their home court.
Tiffany Mason, chief operation officer for the Coyotes, said the team learned in their first season that “if you want to be a competitive professional basketball team, two practices a week didn’t really fit.” She said the team wanted access to the space when the gym wasn’t being used.
Patrick Cushing, Barre city manager, said the city wants to keep the auditorium as a public resource and cannot simply hand over the keys. “You would love to have a facility that is yours,” Cushing said. “That’s not what the Aud is. The Aud is a community center that can support a team, or at least support the base of a team.”
Cushing said the Coyotes’ current contract provides them with a discounted rate of $50 per hour to use the court during games, plus complimentary practice time that adds up to about $4,000 per season. He claimed the team was asking the city to comp about $10,000 in court time per year.
Cushing also said the team’s request for flexible use of the court was impractical because the city needed to know when people would be in the building. “The city is responsible through their insurance of who is in and on the property, so we need to at least know when they need to be there,” Cushing said.
Mason said the team is providing the city with free marketing by promoting the court and the city on its platforms, along with partnering with local businesses and fundraising for local causes. “Every time we post and feature the Barre Auditorium or feature businesses in Barre, we are providing that free of charge for the city, for the civic center, and we never asked for anything in return,” Mason said.
Cushing said he hadn’t seen any hard numbers that show the team was bringing in more revenue for the city outside of its court rental. “I’m sure that there is some kind of influx during game nights, or I hope so at least,” he said. “I’m not sure the dollar amount that’s being brought in during their games, and I don’t think we have any data one way or the other. I don’t know how the Coyotes are, besides just saying it, getting that information.”
Mason also pointed out what she sees as hypocrisy on the city’s part. The former city manager, Nick Storellicastro, was given access to the civic center for personal use. According to documents from a May 2025 city council meeting, Mayor Thom Lauzon allowed Storellicastro to use the civic center when it wasn’t otherwise occupied, although the letter stipulates the use must be “informal” and releases the city from any liability. Lauzon did not reply by publication time to a request for comment on the letter.
Cushing said the city was still willing to come back to the table if the Coyotes were interested. But Mason said the team’s relationship with the city had already been too damaged by the situation. “The issue is more than a contract,” she said. “I think that how things
