PUTTING A PRICE ON OUR PAST
City may allow facilities to be renamed
Some familiar names attached to Calgary pools, arenas and recreation centres could be dropped and swapped for new ones as city hall explores ways of offsetting the cost of recreation facilities with the sale of naming rights and sponsorships.
The city is considering hiring consultants to assess the value of naming rights and sponsorship opportunities associated with a host of recreation properties, from aquatics and fitness centres to golf courses and arenas, according to municipal bid documents.
There are more than 50 recreation properties across Calgary, but the city is hoping to examine revenue opportunities connected with just a selection of sites. Some examples listed in bid documents include the Shouldice and Killarney pools, the Shaganappi and Lakeview golf courses, as well as Max Bell, Rose Kohn and Village Squarearenas.
The city is not currently proposing any specific name changes. However, in addition to the valuations, it will seek guidance on beefing up its sponsorship sales team to generate leads on potential naming rights sponsors.
Coun. Evan Woolley said the city must proceed carefully when it comes to changing the names of public buildings and spaces.
“It’s not so simple. We need to take a number of things into account: Was it named something else before? What is the legacy of the existing name on the space? How do we put a value on the namingofanasset?
“The names of some of these buildings and parks are deeply meaningful to people in the communities in which these assets might be in, so we obviously need to engage thoughtfully around the legacy of the names of these places.”
Heritage advocates point to the renaming of Lindsay Park Sports Centre — to Talisman Centre in 2002 and then Repsol Sports Centrein2016—asseveringakey connection to a founding figure in Calgary ’s history: Dr. Neville Lindsay, one of the city ’s first physicians and a rancher on the lands where the facility sits.
Similar concerns were raised recently with the renaming of a southwest library branch from the Alexander Calhoun Library to the Giuffre Family Library.
Calhoun was the city’s first librarian who made access to the library free to all Calgarians.
“What you lose when you sell naming rights is the connection to the reason the building was put there in the first place and who put it there and why it was there,” said Calgary Heritage Initiative president Rick Williams.
“They’re taking away the community name and they’re putting in a philanthropist’s name, or developer’s name, or a corporation’s name — that removes the sense of community.”
And then there’s the matter of getting used to a new moniker that just doesn’t feel right.
“Lindsay Park was my sports centre growing up and I have a real hard time calling it Repsol Centre, even today,” Woolley admitted.
RECOGNIZING CALGARIANS
He said he’s not opposed to private donors and corporate sponsors, but said the city also needs to recognize Calgarians who may have contributed something other than money to their community.
Council is expected to vote next week on a revised set of policies aimed at streamlining the sponsorship and naming process.
Coun. Sean Chu said the sale of naming rights is about “going forward” as a city, adding that historical figures can still be honoured with on-site plaques and other tributes. He said he believes the city should allow more private donors and corporations to contribute to local projects.
“Why not name everything?” Chu asked. “You want to put your name on the street? Well, if you pay enough you should be able to do it.
“It would be great if the private sector could do this all the time and that would take a lot of weight off the city.”