Time to talk
Discussion between Melnyk, city over arena’s future should start now
Are there signs of a détente between city hall and the Ottawa Senators?
Just over a month ago on a Toronto radio station, team owner Eugene Melnyk was impugning the reputation of Rideau Carleton Raceway and wondering aloud about the interstellar origins of Mayor Jim Watson and deputy mayor Steve Desroches.
Although his frustration with the city’s approach to the casino file was understandable, Melnyk’s rant came off as knee-jerk and unprofessional and was not well received in the community. Not so long ago, he received enthusiastic cheers from Senators fans for rescuing the team from bankruptcy. But Thursday night at the Senators’ home opener, a few boos were heard when Melnyk was introduced.
This week on TSN 1200, however, Melnyk struck a much different tone. He suggested he was working with the mayor’s office to “correct” the situation.
It’s hard to imagine that the city will change course on the casino issue, but perhaps Melnyk is still hoping the matter isn’t completely closed. However, even if he can’t get council to reconsider its plans for gambling, there’s a broader discussion between the team and the city that has to take place about the future of the Senators and their arena. So it would help if the two sides were actually on speaking terms.
The Canadian Tire Centre has been a game-changer in our community. It’s wellmaintained and isn’t showing signs of disrepair. But the arena is almost 20 years old and the lifespan of the modern arena is a lot shorter than it used to be. The expectations of spectators have risen dramatically and teams are feeling intense pressure to compete with the rapidly advancing experience of watching a game at home.
After 25 or 30 years, an arena is now considered to be past its prime. The Senators are continuing to invest in the Canadian Tire Centre and are considering some specific upgrades, including removing some of the private suites and replacing them with a new form of club seating.
But sometime in the next five to 10 years, the Senators will have to start contemplating a big decision: Invest $100 million or more in a massive renovation or build a new facility in Kanata or elsewhere. And the sooner that discussion begins, and the more involved are city officials, the better the outcome will be for the community and the team.
When the Senators returned to Ottawa, there was only one option for an arena location. The land that Bruce Firestone had assembled in Kanata was the centrepiece of his bid for an expansion franchise. But it’s no secret that the location isn’t perfect. The Senators caught the tailend of a trend toward suburban facilities. Most arenas and stadiums are now built downtown.
The city’s new transportation plan, which covers the next few decades of improvements to public transit, doesn’t include light rail or Transitway expansion to the Canadian Tire Centre. In other words, by the time it gets any easier to travel to and from a game or a concert, Erik Karlsson will be a grandfather.
So as the population grows and there is even more pressure on transportation infrastructure, will it make sense to refurbish an existing arena in Kanata or look for another site? It will be hard to argue that the best solution for everyone would not be something closer to downtown.
The city isn’t about to put taxpayers’ money into a new facility. The appetite for public sports arenas is low in Canada and any resources Ottawa has are already committed to the light rail project. But with its partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, the city has set an interesting precedent.
Could the city and the Senators work together to build a new arena in a more central location? If city hall can’t give Melnyk a casino, can it partner with him a development site that cannot only house a new stadium but create the additional revenue stream he says the Senators need to be sustainable?
The Canadian Tire Centre isn’t on its last legs. But the day is quickly approaching when the community will begin to debate the merits of a new arena. It will be a major decision for the team and the city, involving everything from urban planning to transportation.
We have only one opportunity each generation to get such an important initiative right. If the discussion doesn’t start early and the process isn’t approached carefully and co-operatively, it could turn out like the casino issue: a rushed decision that causes more problems than it solves.