City wise to look for another opinion on Memorial Centre

For $6,000, what harm could a second opinion do?

That is presumably what a majority of city council members asked themselves before voting to get another opinion on whether the Memorial Centre arena floor needs replacing. We presume that was the rationale behind Monday night’s vote because none of the arguments for or against the second-opinion option are particularly strong.

Peterborough Lakers lacrosse fans got what they wanted when council reversed its earlier support for a plan to do the $3.5 million repair job next summer. That would force the Lakers to play at the much smaller Evinrude Centre.

The Lakers routinely draw crowds of 2,500 or more for league games and 3,800 for playoffs games. The Evinrude Centre seats 700. Lots of lacrosse fans would be sitting the season out.

However, councillors knew all that when they endorsed the plan two weeks ago and voted to compensate the Lakers for lost revenue.

Now that plan is on hold. Instead a new consultant will be hired to take another look at whether the floor can be repaired rather than replaced.

This will actually be a third opinion. The city was first warned about serious cracking in some sections of a wall and the floor two years ago. Its maintenance contractor did monthly tests and found things were getting worse so a second firm with more expertise was called in and recommended replacement.

If the new opinion conflicts with the first two it is not clear what will happen next. Does one “no” cancel out two “yeses”? Stay tuned for that answer.

In the meantime, the controversy has re-established the well-known fact that emotion comes into play when arena or stadium issues affect sports franchises and their fans.

Lacrosse fans who rallied before Monday’s council meeting were certainly emotional, blaming the city for one again favoring the Peterborough Petes over their Lakers.

Emtions were running particularly high as the Lakers were putting on a powerful performance for hometown fans during the Mann Cup championship against the Maple Ridge Burrards.

Their argument is that the floor could be replaced during the winter, disrupting hockey instead of lacrosse. However, the Petes and their higher ticket prices produce more revenue at the city-owned Memorial Centre per game. And a 22-week winter project would affect as many as 30 Petes games compared to a maximum of 16 for the Lakers.

Council was going to upset one team and its fan base either way. It has a responsibility to taxpayers to limit the financial damage and to look out for the arena’s anchor tenant. The Lakers and the city have a strained relationship and this won’t make it any better.

According to a city staff report all three parties – the Petes, Lakers and city staff – agreed to the summer of 2019 replacement plan.

However, Lakers officials have been silent as their fans call for a review, which must grate on city staff.

For their part, a staff concern that all potential bidders could walk away from a $3.5 million contract if the tender is delayed four to six weeks seems unlikely.

It also seems unlikely the exhaustive examination done by two consultants is wrong, which suggests council’s decision was based more on emotion than reason. But if it calms the waters, no harm done.

The Lakers and the city have a strained relationship and this won’t make it any better