The Firstar Center possibly could be sold while retaining a potentially multimillion-dollar claim against Hamilton County to repay creditors, lawyers argued in federal bankruptcy court Friday.

        Judge Burton Perlman approved hiring a firm to value the downtown arena, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.

        But a lawyer for unsecured creditors suggested that a claim against Hamilton County for knocking down the walkway to Firstar could remain with the arena's bankruptcy estate and be used to repay creditors.

        “How can we sell an asset when we really don't know what we're selling?” said Henry Menninger, who is representing unsecured creditors.

        Provident Bank, the Firstar Center's major creditor that has offered $31 million for the arena, immediately opposed the idea.

        “We're not interested in separating the two,” said Stephen Lerner of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, representing Provident.

        The exchange was the first in a series of skirmishes that should result in the sale of the Firstar Center during the next several months.

        Next week, the court will be asked to approve more financing from Provident, which is paying for all of the arena's operations since it filed for bankruptcy.

        And it also should lay out procedures for an auction, which could be completed by this summer.

        Provident leads a partnership that offered $31 million for the arena. The company that owns the Firstar Center owes Provident about $29 million, and has total debt of nearly $40 million.

        A state court already has held that Hamilton County should pay the arena's owners for knocking down the pedestrian bridge to make room for the Great American Ball Park.

        If that claim is upheld through any more appeals, the price for the property rights would be set by a jury.

        The sale also could include the Cincinnati Cyclones hockey team, which are owned by the same company and also filed for bankruptcy March 15.

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