I-X Center operator, mired in contract fights, sues Cleveland Boat Show organizer Jeffrey L. Klaum/I-X Center The private company that controls the I-X Center, a shuttered event venue on Cleveland's West Side, recently filed a lawsuit against the producer of the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show and Fishing Expo. The operator of I-X Center, the massive Cleveland trade-show venue that shut its doors last year, is suing the group behind the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show and Fishing Expo in a move that could have bearing on a series of contract disputes. In a lawsuit filed Friday, Jan. 29, I-X Center Corp. asserts that it has no obligations to the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, an industry organization that produces boat shows across the region. The company is asking a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge to affirm that I-X Center Corp. can't possibly host a boat show in the next few years — and isn't responsible for a business shutdown that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic and public health orders.