City staff call for $200K look at venues in core
‘This has sat long enough,’ says development chief Norton in push for ‘aggressive’ action
That’s it.
There’s going to be no more monkeying around with a private sector offer to pay for a redevelopment study of Hamilton’s aging and dollar-needy downtown sports, entertainment and convention venues.
City staff want to take charge of the issue by spending up to $200,000 from a reserve fund for an independent study on the needs of the three big city-owned facilities in the core.
And they want to do it quickly and forcefully.
Pending council’s approval, economic development director Glen Norton is targeting putting a report in front of council on the potential future of FirstOntario Centre, FirstOntario Concert Hall and Hamilton Convention Centre by June.
“We want to be aggressive on this,” Norton says. “This has sat long enough.”
If this feels like déjà vu — well, it should. Staff proposed virtually the same thing last August, but they were sidetracked by a simultaneous “no strings attached” offer to pay for the study by a local consortium fronted by Carmen’s Group.
Rather than deal with staff’s recommendation, council told staff to see if there were any pitfalls in accepting private-sector
money from a group that admits it intends to put forward a bid if and when the facilities are redeveloped.
Unsurprisingly, drawbacks and deadfalls abounded.
According to Norton, legal and procurement advice clearly indicated that if the city accepted the unsolicited money, both parties would be exposed to future complaints and challenges about favouritism and unfair advantages.
The fact Carmen’s operates the convention centre for the city and is now bidding to manage the whole kit and caboodle against entertainment giant Spectra, which operates the arena and theatre, surely only complicated matters. Regardless, discussions led the consortium to withdraw its funding offer.
Jasper Kujavsky, spokesperson for the consortium — it consists of Carmen’s, the Ron Joyce family, LIUNA, Fengate Capital and Meridian Credit Union — blames himself for getting ahead of the process and “hijacking” the original staff recommendation.
Kujavsky believes the landmark venues will ultimately be redeveloped by a public-private partnership, but he recognizes the unsolicited offer created an “awkward” situation. He says the group intends to proceed with its own study, which it will happily share with the city.
To be fair, the consortium’s offer was an attempt to speed up studying what to do with the fading facilities, which increasingly need major reinvestment dollars.
Unfortunately, it unintentionally delayed it by several months.
That no doubt explains Norton’s desire to aggressively explore the right size and design for the facilities,
and the benefits of establishing a “precinct” that includes future residential and commercial developments.
Norton readily admits the city also needs to get cracking so Michael Andlauer, owner of the OHL Bulldogs, can figure out where his team is going to play.
FirstOntario Centre (formerly Copps Coliseum) needs about $34 million in repairs and a concerned Andlauer has been looking at other options, including building a new arena on the Mountain.
According to Norton, whether the arena is a good place for Andlauer’s team needs to be addressed.
If it’s not, is it still worth keeping it as an ice arena? Could it be something else?
“These are the types of questions we need to ask.”
The fact the city already has an arena report — largely paid for by virtually the same local consortium
listed above — helps tremendously. That 2016 report presented options for a $68-million renovation and a $252-million rebuild.
Obviously we’re talking big dollars and big decisions.
Hopefully, the consultant’s report staff are requesting will ask and answer the right questions. As with its push to look at new options for the languishing Auchmar Estate, the city’s economic development team clearly has the bit between its teeth.
“It’s important work,” says Norton. “It’s really a game-changer for our downtown, or could be. Let’s not hold this up any further. Let’s get on with what needs to be done.”
Councillors will deal with the recommendation on Wednesday.