panoo

7:27 pm EDT June 18, 2007

DETROIT -- The Ilitch family must decide if the Detroit Red Wings will continue to call the Joe Louis Arena their home.

In August the Ilitch family will decide between ending their exclusive 20-year lease agreement with the Joe Louis Arena or if they will construct a new arena.

The August deadline may spark some intense negotiations between the city of Detroit and the Ilitch family-owned company, Olympia Arenas, which manages and operates all concessions and has exclusive rights for other events at the Joe Louis Arena and the Cobo Hall.

The Ilitch family inherited the Joe Louis Arena and the Cobo Hall bargain lease agreement of $450,000 a year from the previous Detroit Red Wings owners, when they bought the team from them in 1982.

After visiting the Registrar of Deeds, Local 4 learned the Ilitch family owns half of the property behind the Fox Theatre, some parcels are in other business names.

These properties may become a contender for a new Detroit hockey arena.

Another possible location is off of Interstates 275 and 696, where the Ilitches were originally thinking of moving the Red Wings to in the 1980s.

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