FOXBORO - A Mansfield sports facility is not for sale, contrary to what a Foxboro selectman who operated it told the media, according to those involved in the business.

Selectman Robert Hickey Jr. did not own the building he operated as Mansfield SportsPlex and was forced to give up the premises after failing to meet financial obligations, said a Green Street businessman whose family owns the property and has taken over its operation.

Michael E. Keneally, one of four relatives who are the principals at Accutech Packaging Inc. at 157 Green St., said his partner and father-in-law, Richard Madigan, has owned the 70,000-square-foot sports center building and equipment during the entire 20-month period that Hickey operated Mansfield SportsPlex.

"We have a vested interest in the success of the business," Keneally said. "Bob did a great job running the business but doesn't have the financial reserves. That's why we decided we would be permanently running it."

Keneally said the owners met with Hickey in March and informed him that it was in the long-term interest of the facility for them to take it over and operate it. Hickey said he holds a purchase-and-sales agreement on the structure and equipment, dating to Aug. 7, 2006, but never executed it because he was unable to obtain the financing.

On April 16, Hickey, a candidate for re-election on May 5, told The Foxboro Reporter and The Sun Chronicle that he had sold Mansfield Sportsplex but declined to name the buyer, saying the deal had not yet been signed.

Keneally subsequently phoned The Foxboro Reporter and The Sun Chronicle, saying he wished to quell any rumors that may be circulating about the Mansfield Sportsplex.

"He's not selling anything to us," Keneally said of the property. "We have an agreement that we're taking it over but we're not purchasing it."

He said Hickey always paid his employees, but had fallen behind in his monthly lease payments to Oxford Road Realty Trust, the Madigan family trust that owns the building and equipment.

"From my perspective he tried hard," Keneally said. "He met payroll for 22 months, which is admirable, but unfortunately wasn't able to continue. It takes deep pockets. He put a lot on the line."

Keneally said he plans to keep the employees on.

Hickey declined to confirm whether he was behind in his lease obligations.

He said he is still negotiating with Keneally in an effort to sell the business, which includes such assets as the name, clientele, contacts and Web site, www.mansfieldsportsplex.com.

The facility, which also has a restaurant for which Hickey holds a beer and wine license, is located at 31 Oxford Road in Mansfield's Cabot Business Park. Part of the four-acre parcel stands in Foxboro, next door to Accutech, and is accessible from Green Street (Route 106). During an interview in August 2006, Hickey reported that he and Robert Adair of McKenzie Lane bought the building, equipment and business for $3 million from a trust controlled by Madigan of Accutech.

Hickey said he stands by that statement. He said his purchase-and-sale agreement constitutes ownership.

His former partner disagrees.

"The idea was to buy the place once we were able to secure bank financing," Adair said. "We definitely did not buy it. We never consummated the deal. It's like proposing but not getting married."

The purchase-and-sale agreement was for $3.35 million, but the closing never took place, Hickey and Adair said.

Adair said no bank was willing to make the loan and that after six months BoAH LLC, the corporate name of their partnership, became a tenant at will in Madigan's building.

"There was no chance of getting the bank loan," Adair said. "It would have taken a couple of years to get the place profitable. The place was struggling."

Adair described Mass. Premier Courts as a dominant competitor with six basketball courts and a baseball instruction facility. Mass. Premier, with six basketball courts and a baseball instruction facility, is located less than a mile away from the Mansfield SportsPlex.

According to the Mansfield assessors office, the sportsplex building and four-acre parcel is owned by Oxford Road Realty Trust, Richard J. Madigan trustee, and is assessed at $3,584,400. In those records the facility is called the Dana Barros Sports Complex, its previous name.

Adair said former Boston Celtics player Dana Barros opened the Dana Barros Sports Complex in 2005 after doing about $2 million in renovations and that Barros was leasing the building from Madigan.

Barros walked away from the business. Madigan kept it running until Hickey and Adair entered an agreement in August, 2006 and took over.

Adair said he and Hickey had "strong differences of opinion on how to run the place," and Adair left in January 2007. Corporate records on file with the Secretary of State's office confirm the separation. Adair said Hickey agreed to buy his share of the partnership.

Keneally said Madigan has a background in recreation, having owned Tennis 95 at that location for 15 years, through 1989. Madigan later converted the building into the Set Point paper warehouse.

Keneally said he considers Hickey a "straightforward and honest individual," who "kept us apprised of the situation" as he tried to get other investors, adding that Hickey may be retained on a consulting basis.

Hickey returned to work this week at State Street Corp., where he had been employed for more than six years prior to going into business for himself.

"I stand by everything I said and by all the decisions I made," Hickey said. "I only wish I had deeper pockets and was able to have obtained the financing to complete the purchase and sale. The business itself is strong, and I wish the best for the new owners."