Fixing PMC costly, but unavoidable

Sometimes stuff you own needs fixing, a costly but unavoidable reality.

The Memorial Centre floor needs fixing and it turns out the repair bill has jumped to $3.5 million, but there is no other option.

And in the end a turbulent process to schedule closing the arena and getting that work done had a mostly positive outcome.

The Lakers lacrosse team, which had the most to lose, got the one-year delay it asked for. The Lakers will play next summer’s season at the smaller Evinrude Centre and be compensated for lost ticket revenue.

The Peterborough Petes can arrange to start their 2019 season late – mid-November is the forecast – and carry on as usual.

And the city will not be saddled with the bad publicity that would have followed if the much loved and highly successful Lakers had indeed been forced to leave Peterborough or fold – although neither ever seemed very likely.

The “no option” factor didn’t relate entirely to sports teams.

The PMC is also the only large-scale venue for concerts and trade shows.

Peterborough can’t afford to be the only city its size in Ontario without such a facility, not if it wants to present itself as an attractive, vibrant community to potential newcomers.

And closing the arena would actually cost more than keeping it open.

The city will be paying $950,000 a year for five more years on the debt from the last renovation project. Shutter the building and those payments continue but $675,000 in net annual operating revenue is lost.

If the Memorial Centre is eventually replaced with a new, larger facility as proposed the timing of those debt payments works out not badly. They end in 2023, which is the earliest city staff believe a new building could be open.

There are, however, lingering issues around the floor replacement

One is the jump in price. Two years ago the estimated cost was $2 million. The new number is $3.5 million, a 75-per-cent increase.

Some of the increase represents the addition of $500,000 in case it turns out the building’s foundation also needs repair, which won’t be known until the floor is ripped out.

But a staff report dismisses most of the jump as simply the result of a “high level” estimate tossed out in 2017 being fine-tuned to get actual costs.

That casual approach to costing is not a one-time concern.

A few months ago the replacement cost for Brock Mission men’s shelter suddenly increased by $3.5 million. The contributing factors cited in a staff report included a one-year, 33-per-cent increase in construction and material costs that was common to the industry as a whole.

This time, the Memorial Centre report says construction cost increases averaged six-to-10 per cent over the past two years. Which is it?

The city’s commitment to cover lost ticket sales for the Lakers also requires close inspection.

A $250,000 estimate was thrown out without supporting evidence. On a motion by Coun. Dean Pappas, repayment was approved with almost no consideration.

As Mayor Daryl Bennett said, rigorous accounting will be required. Suggesting $250,000 as a base will likely cause hard feelings if the actual number turns out to be lower.

For now, however, the important consideration is that the Memorial Centre will be fixed and remain in action, as it has to.