A practice session with the Vermont Coyotes basketball team. Photo courtesy of Vermont Coyotes BARRE — A fist bump from a Vermont Frost Heaves player turned Anthony Marques into a fan who attended 102 of the team’s consecutive games. Years later, he brought a team of his own, the Vermont Coy otes, to Barre. When he started the state’s only minor-league basketball team in 2024, it felt natural to bring them to Barre, said Brandy Marie, the team’s staff performance analyst.  That made the Barre Civic Center, nicknamed the Auditorium or the “Aud,” their home court.  Two years later, however, that connection has been severed. The Coyotes announced this month that this coming season will be the last one the team plays at the civic center.  The Coyotes and the auditorium’s owner, the city of Barre, disagree on a key issue: the team’s use of the space outside of games and official practices. Officials from the team say they deserve flexibility to use the space beyond what’s laid out in the current contract.  The Coyotes learned in their first season that “if you want to be a competitive professional basketball team, two practices a week didn’t really fit,” said Tiffany Mason, chief operation officer for the Coyotes. “We just wanted access when the gym wasn’t being used.”  Officials from the city say they want to keep the auditorium as a public resource, and they can’t just hand over the keys.  “You would love to have a facility that is yours,” said Barre city manager Patrick Cushing. “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. Like, do they need practice elsewhere? Maybe. Like, that’s up to them.” 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, Cushing said. He claimed that with the “redlines,”or suggestions, the Coyotes made on the new contract, the team was asking the city to comp about $10,000 in court time per year.  In addition, 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 were presented before the Coyotes came to the Aud is very different. That relationship is very different than what we thought we were entering, which we thought was a partnership.” But the Coyotes haven’t started househunting for a new space yet. Marie said the focus right now was completely on the coming season, which begins with an away game against the Hartford Colts on Oct. 17. The team’s home opener isn’t until Dec. 5 as they await repairs on the civic center’s heating and air conditioning system. “We want as many people as possible to pack the auditorium every home game, because we want to give Barre a fantastic bunch of games, and we really want to show what a benefit the Coyotes can be to the community,” Mason said. Read the story on VTDigger here: At odds over the “Aud,” Vermont Coyotes announce departure from Barre. ...read more read less