The Centre City in Butler project could be in jeopardy because of the financial concerns of Kelly Automotive Park.

Art Cordwell, executive director of the city redevelopment authority, said Monday night that if the authority goes bankrupt then it may not get a $2 million state grant to help finance the proposed Marriott Springhill Suites hotel downtown.

“In my mind, if that happens, then the grant money from the state is gone,” he said.

The authority owes more than $45,000 in late payments on the ballpark’s mortgage. It received a default letter in January from Dollar Bank.

Cordwell said the city Parks, Recreation Grounds and Facilities authority, which manages the park, is responsible for making those payments under an agreement between the two boards.

However, the facilities board last week said it ultimately is the redevelopment authority that is responsible for paying the mortgage.

“We have to pay for a park in which we have no control in managing,” Cordwell said.

Cordwell said the facilities authority’s sale of its share of the Butler BlueSox baseball team should have gone to pay the bank for the overdue mortgage payments. The authority sold its share of the baseball team for $40,000 earlier this year and is using the money to pay off other debts.

“The original intention was for that money to go to the bank,” said Cordwell, who was a member of the facilities board at that time.

The facilities authority last week also said it would not pay the redevelopment authority about $140,000 for debts, claiming that money was associated with cost overruns on the stadium, and therefore is the responsibility of the redevelopment authority.

Cordwell said the loss of the $140,000 and a default on the stadium could lead the redevelopment authority into bankruptcy because it also has previously defaulted on its mortgage on the former Penn Theater on Main Street.

He said if the redevelopment authority does declare bankruptcy, it could mean an end to the Centre City project.

The redevelopment authority will be a 36 percent owner of the hotel. It plans to use a $2 million state grant on the hotel, partnering with developer J.S. Capitol Construction, which owns the other 64 percent of the building’s stake.

“I think the state would take that money back,” Cordwell said. “And without that money, there is no hotel.”

Cordwell said he still believes the project will move forward, but said the facilities authority’s decisions are a major concern.