$1M arena donation off the table
Mayor Walter Sendzik says it was “surprising and disappointing” to learn a $1-million donation from the owners of the Niagara IceDogs is off the table for good.
The city had been attempting to convince Denise and Bill Burke to reinstate their donation after negotiations over naming rights for IceDogs Way with city staff went sideways.
Sendzik said council was willing to give the Burkes everything they wanted for the naming rights but he was informed Tuesday afternoon the $1 million will not be forthcoming.
“When it was brought to light there was an issue between senior administration and the lawyers for the IceDogs on the terms, this council said go back to the spirit of the agreement that was made between the previous mayor and the IceDogs and honour it. And we did,” Sendzik said Wednesday.
But it seems it was too late to get the Burkes to change their minds after announcing in November 2016 they were frustrated and pulling their donation.
“We don’t have the energy to comment any further, but are disappointed that this has become news once again,” said Bill and Denise Burke in a joint statement emailed Wednesday.
“We spent over two and a half years and tens of thousands of dollars trying to get the city to honour the deal that was originally agreed to by all parties involved.
“This story is now a year old, and this is the first we’ve heard about it again since the mayor reached out to us yesterday. We have moved on as we continue to support our community in other ways.”
It was March 2014 when the Burkes and then-mayor Brian McMullan announced in a media event at city hall that the Burkes were donating $1 million to the city. The road that semi-circles Meridian Centre would be called IceDogs Way in honour of the donation.
City council approved an agreement that April giving the Burkes naming rights for IceDogs Way “in perpetuity.”
But the Burkes said city staff later wanted them to sign an agreement that capped naming rights at 20 years. The Burkes refused and staff extended the years. The Burkes, however, wanted the original commitment of “in perpetuity” honoured.
Fast-forward to Nov. 7, 2016, and the Burkes announced through a media release they were pulling the donation for the naming rights after two years of struggling to finalize the deal with the city. They asked the city to remove the IceDogs Way sign from the street.
City councillors reacted in shock that night, saying they were unaware of any problems behind-the-scenes with the deal.
The city solicitor parted ways with the city the next day.
Councillors immediately directed Sendzik and staff to do “whatever is necessary” to finalize the agreement and give the Burkes naming rights for as long as they wanted.
Sendzik said the city has held meetings and discussions with the Burkes for almost a year about the naming rights agreement and other issues at Meridian Centre.
“We’ve been at the table talking about making sure the relationship was being rebuilt, that the trust was being rebuilt,” Sendzik said Wednesday.
“It’s shocking that this actually comes out at this time because we had made a lot of headway and put that exact offer — everything that they wanted in that initial unwritten agreement that wasn’t drafted when they made the (2014) announcement — we were still going to honour the spirit of that.
“The offer that they wanted was on the table. They rejected it. We didn’t get a dime for it.”
A decision on what will happen to the IceDogs Way name and sign, which remains in place, has not been made.
“Those are future decisions of council,” Sendzik said. “One thing I wouldn’t want to see is a knee-jerk reaction made by anybody at this point in time because obviously all parties are frustrated with the turn of events.”
Meridian Centre is now $1 million short. Sendzik said that will be applied to the long-term debt for the $50-million building and ultimately goes back to the taxpayer.
Sendzik said he has great respect for what the IceDogs have done in the community and they are an excellent OHL franchise.
“The team has invested in the community, they are great community partners, so from my perspective we just move forward,” Sendzik said. “It would have been nice to have a better outcome, but, unfortunately, when it comes to these kinds of dollar amounts, people make decisions based on where they are.” Meanwhile, Sendzik said city council has tightened up policies so nothing similar can happen again.
Council approved a new naming rights policy for city-owned facilities on Sept. 11 to ensure signed agreements are in place before recognition such as signs on walls are given for donations.
“Lessons learned from this. This council wasn’t the one that set this in motion. What we’re doing is trying to clean it up. Sometimes you’re able to achieve it, sometimes you aren’t,” Sendzik said.
“This is one of those ones where we have at least cleaned up our own systems so that this won’t happen again in our community.”