Bandit
01-10-2004, 10:06 PM
City of Barrie found itself breaking some new ground
Sept 10, 1994 The Windsor Star
The City of Barrie found itself breaking some new ground when it decided to work with a beer brewery to build a new arena.
Not often do municipalities and private industry in Canada join hands to build arenas -- or anything else, for that matter, said Sid Armatage, Barrie's director of parks and recreation.
But there is no question these types of join ventures are the wave of the future, he said.
After two years of planning and negotiating Barrie is preparing to call for tenders by the end of this month to build a $12-million arena.
It is being built on four hectares of land donated by Molson Breweries. The company owns a plant and a surrounding park in Barrie, a city of 72,000 an hour's drive north of Toronto. Molson's entertainment arm recently started using part of the park for outdoor concerts.
In exchange for donating land for the 4,200-seat arena Molson will able to use the arena -- just across Highway 400 from its outdoor stage -- for indoor concerts and entertainment. It also has first right to operate the concessions and restaurant.
MOLSON WILL pay the city 25 per cent of gross revenues from concession sales.
The city will own the arena outright after putting in $5.25 million. Another $2.5 million is expected to come from the province and federal government through national infrastructure grants.
The remaining $4.25 million is coming from corporate donations (including the Molson land), and sales for the next 10 years of box suites and club seats. The city will bridge finance with about $3 million from its reserves.
The eight-seat suites -- each with a small bar, washroom and lounge -- cost $6,500 a year. Club seats go for $250 a year. Payments are made one year in advance for the upcoming season.
Buyers get first dibs on tickets for those seats for any event held at the arena.
They're also committed to buy season's tickets to home games for Barrie's new Junior A hockey franchise. Suite holders have an additional obligation to buy tickets for at least four other events at the arena each year.
The 26 box suites were snapped up in the first three days of sales and there's a waiting list of seven, Armatage said. Each suite has been committed for the next 10 years.
Ten-year commitments have been made for half of the 800 club seats.
The commitments were made last spring to gauge community support prior to City Council deciding to go ahead with construction, Armatage said.
Windsor is planning to do the same for the proposed Family Entertainment and Sports Complex at the raceway, which would include a 6,000-seat civic arena. A preliminary plan proposes 30 box suites, costing $7,000 a year each, and 800 club seats, costing $250 a year each.
Windsor's City Council has approved spending $25,000 to market the seats. The raceway and Windsor Spitfires hockey club are also kicking in $25,000 each.
The raceway has already received calls from prospective buyers but won't do more than take down names until it confers further with the city, said John Millson, raceway general manager. Raceway representatives were to meet with city finance commissioner Chuck Wills this week to start hammering out a plan.
THE SAME consulting firm that did the feasibility study for the raceway project --- Stadium Consultants International Inc. --- is working on the Barrie arena.
The Toronto-based company was first hired by Molson to do a feasibility study and then by the city to continue working on the project, Armatage said. In Windsor, Mayor Mike Hurst committed the city to splitting the bill for $60,000 feasibility study which was given to council at the end of August.
In both cities, the feasibility study was enough to intrigue councils to look further.
While the Barrie arena isn't expected to be a big money maker, it shouldn't cost taxpayers anything to operate, Armatage said.
Conservative projections are that it will turn a profit of between $20,000 and $30,000 a year.
``How the arena is going to be operated is still to be determined,'' Armatage said.
That has to be decided before it opens for the 1995-96 Junior A hockey season.
Barrie Mayor Janice Laking says she doesn't expect the city will recover its capital investment in the arena.
That doesn't concern her greatly. The city would have had to build a new ice surface to meet demand, anyway. The partnership with Molson brings the added benefit of hopefully drawing more people to Barrie for concerts and exhibitions, Laking said.
-----------------------------------------------
Apr 10, 2000
No other Ontario arena built in recent years has cost as much as the one proposed for Windsor.
City councillors were given a comparison of five other cities on the eve of their decision tonight on whether to accept a proposal for a 6,000- to 7,000-seat complex and a Gretzky 99 restaurant.
The report shows that most have been built with significant up- front contributions by taxpayers -- in cash and loans -- and all of them have been built for less than $25 million, at least $5 million less than the $30-million complex proposed in Windsor.
Brampton's was the most expensive -- $24.8 million -- but it has four ice pads.
"If you look at those other buildings, they're basically community ice pads," said Jebb spokesman Ron Taylor, of Olympia & York/SMG. "Ours is a multi-use, downtown centre. It's got 40,000 square feet of retail which the others don't have."
Taylor said no other city has the type of big-city design Windsor will be getting on the Western Super Anchor lands overlooking the Detroit River.
The others resemble "a concrete bunker ... a big sort of building with no street animation," Taylor said. "In the middle of downtown, the facility has got to survive and be part of the downtown, even when there aren't events."
All paid up front
The five other municipalities agreed to up-front contributions to construct their projects. Of those, Barrie, Brampton and Mississauga are also picking up potential operating losses.
Sarnia entered into a partnership with the owners of the Sarnia Sting. The city's share was $6.9 million and the hockey club put $1.5 million into the facility. The city also co-signed a $7.5 - million loan. Lauridon, an arena management company, was hired to run the arena, which managed to make a small profit in the first year.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said Windsor must decide if the risk is equally shared by both partners. "If it doesn't meet that criterion, there's no point in a private-public partnership."
The city of Mississauga paid the entire $22 million for the Hershey Centre, in cash.
According to the council report, Mississauga decided to do the project alone because it felt the city's risks would have been the same had it partnered with the private sector.
The complex, which is operated by an arena management company for a fee, is profitable, mainly because it is debt-free.
The Barrie arena is city owned, constructed and managed. The city used $5.2 million from its reserves and borrowed another $4.3 million -- which will be repaid from club seat and suite sales -- toward the $15-million cost. Another $2.5 million came from federal and provincial funding and $1 million from the restaurant operator for "leasehold improvements." Molson donated the land and parking lot -- worth $1.2 million -- in return for naming rights on the arena. Another $800,000 came from a parking reserve fund to be used on the parking lot.
Percentage of sales
Barrie's OHL club is responsible for selling tickets, marketing the team and managing advertising. But the city collects a percentage of ticket sales and advertising revenues. Barrie is on the hook for the operating risk, but the debt from construction is so small the facility is profitable, according to council's report.
In Guelph, the developer was given an interest-free loan of $10.5 million and another $9-million bank loan was guaranteed by the city. The developer -- Nustadia -- put $1.5 million in equity into the project. The total cost was $21 million.
Guelph is not responsible for any bottom line losses, according to its city administrator, David Creech. "We wanted to have a clear understanding going in of what our costs were going to be," Creech said.
Creech thought the proposed length of Windsor's agreement with Jebb -- 49 years -- was too long. Guelph signed a 35-year agreement with the developer.
"I've never heard of one that long," he said of Windsor's deal. "I don't know what kind of shape the arena will be in after that."
ARENA COSTS
* Barrie: $15 million
* Brampton: $24.8 million
* Sarnia: $15.9 million
* Guelph: $21 million
* Mississauga: $22 million
Sept 10, 1994 The Windsor Star
The City of Barrie found itself breaking some new ground when it decided to work with a beer brewery to build a new arena.
Not often do municipalities and private industry in Canada join hands to build arenas -- or anything else, for that matter, said Sid Armatage, Barrie's director of parks and recreation.
But there is no question these types of join ventures are the wave of the future, he said.
After two years of planning and negotiating Barrie is preparing to call for tenders by the end of this month to build a $12-million arena.
It is being built on four hectares of land donated by Molson Breweries. The company owns a plant and a surrounding park in Barrie, a city of 72,000 an hour's drive north of Toronto. Molson's entertainment arm recently started using part of the park for outdoor concerts.
In exchange for donating land for the 4,200-seat arena Molson will able to use the arena -- just across Highway 400 from its outdoor stage -- for indoor concerts and entertainment. It also has first right to operate the concessions and restaurant.
MOLSON WILL pay the city 25 per cent of gross revenues from concession sales.
The city will own the arena outright after putting in $5.25 million. Another $2.5 million is expected to come from the province and federal government through national infrastructure grants.
The remaining $4.25 million is coming from corporate donations (including the Molson land), and sales for the next 10 years of box suites and club seats. The city will bridge finance with about $3 million from its reserves.
The eight-seat suites -- each with a small bar, washroom and lounge -- cost $6,500 a year. Club seats go for $250 a year. Payments are made one year in advance for the upcoming season.
Buyers get first dibs on tickets for those seats for any event held at the arena.
They're also committed to buy season's tickets to home games for Barrie's new Junior A hockey franchise. Suite holders have an additional obligation to buy tickets for at least four other events at the arena each year.
The 26 box suites were snapped up in the first three days of sales and there's a waiting list of seven, Armatage said. Each suite has been committed for the next 10 years.
Ten-year commitments have been made for half of the 800 club seats.
The commitments were made last spring to gauge community support prior to City Council deciding to go ahead with construction, Armatage said.
Windsor is planning to do the same for the proposed Family Entertainment and Sports Complex at the raceway, which would include a 6,000-seat civic arena. A preliminary plan proposes 30 box suites, costing $7,000 a year each, and 800 club seats, costing $250 a year each.
Windsor's City Council has approved spending $25,000 to market the seats. The raceway and Windsor Spitfires hockey club are also kicking in $25,000 each.
The raceway has already received calls from prospective buyers but won't do more than take down names until it confers further with the city, said John Millson, raceway general manager. Raceway representatives were to meet with city finance commissioner Chuck Wills this week to start hammering out a plan.
THE SAME consulting firm that did the feasibility study for the raceway project --- Stadium Consultants International Inc. --- is working on the Barrie arena.
The Toronto-based company was first hired by Molson to do a feasibility study and then by the city to continue working on the project, Armatage said. In Windsor, Mayor Mike Hurst committed the city to splitting the bill for $60,000 feasibility study which was given to council at the end of August.
In both cities, the feasibility study was enough to intrigue councils to look further.
While the Barrie arena isn't expected to be a big money maker, it shouldn't cost taxpayers anything to operate, Armatage said.
Conservative projections are that it will turn a profit of between $20,000 and $30,000 a year.
``How the arena is going to be operated is still to be determined,'' Armatage said.
That has to be decided before it opens for the 1995-96 Junior A hockey season.
Barrie Mayor Janice Laking says she doesn't expect the city will recover its capital investment in the arena.
That doesn't concern her greatly. The city would have had to build a new ice surface to meet demand, anyway. The partnership with Molson brings the added benefit of hopefully drawing more people to Barrie for concerts and exhibitions, Laking said.
-----------------------------------------------
Apr 10, 2000
No other Ontario arena built in recent years has cost as much as the one proposed for Windsor.
City councillors were given a comparison of five other cities on the eve of their decision tonight on whether to accept a proposal for a 6,000- to 7,000-seat complex and a Gretzky 99 restaurant.
The report shows that most have been built with significant up- front contributions by taxpayers -- in cash and loans -- and all of them have been built for less than $25 million, at least $5 million less than the $30-million complex proposed in Windsor.
Brampton's was the most expensive -- $24.8 million -- but it has four ice pads.
"If you look at those other buildings, they're basically community ice pads," said Jebb spokesman Ron Taylor, of Olympia & York/SMG. "Ours is a multi-use, downtown centre. It's got 40,000 square feet of retail which the others don't have."
Taylor said no other city has the type of big-city design Windsor will be getting on the Western Super Anchor lands overlooking the Detroit River.
The others resemble "a concrete bunker ... a big sort of building with no street animation," Taylor said. "In the middle of downtown, the facility has got to survive and be part of the downtown, even when there aren't events."
All paid up front
The five other municipalities agreed to up-front contributions to construct their projects. Of those, Barrie, Brampton and Mississauga are also picking up potential operating losses.
Sarnia entered into a partnership with the owners of the Sarnia Sting. The city's share was $6.9 million and the hockey club put $1.5 million into the facility. The city also co-signed a $7.5 - million loan. Lauridon, an arena management company, was hired to run the arena, which managed to make a small profit in the first year.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said Windsor must decide if the risk is equally shared by both partners. "If it doesn't meet that criterion, there's no point in a private-public partnership."
The city of Mississauga paid the entire $22 million for the Hershey Centre, in cash.
According to the council report, Mississauga decided to do the project alone because it felt the city's risks would have been the same had it partnered with the private sector.
The complex, which is operated by an arena management company for a fee, is profitable, mainly because it is debt-free.
The Barrie arena is city owned, constructed and managed. The city used $5.2 million from its reserves and borrowed another $4.3 million -- which will be repaid from club seat and suite sales -- toward the $15-million cost. Another $2.5 million came from federal and provincial funding and $1 million from the restaurant operator for "leasehold improvements." Molson donated the land and parking lot -- worth $1.2 million -- in return for naming rights on the arena. Another $800,000 came from a parking reserve fund to be used on the parking lot.
Percentage of sales
Barrie's OHL club is responsible for selling tickets, marketing the team and managing advertising. But the city collects a percentage of ticket sales and advertising revenues. Barrie is on the hook for the operating risk, but the debt from construction is so small the facility is profitable, according to council's report.
In Guelph, the developer was given an interest-free loan of $10.5 million and another $9-million bank loan was guaranteed by the city. The developer -- Nustadia -- put $1.5 million in equity into the project. The total cost was $21 million.
Guelph is not responsible for any bottom line losses, according to its city administrator, David Creech. "We wanted to have a clear understanding going in of what our costs were going to be," Creech said.
Creech thought the proposed length of Windsor's agreement with Jebb -- 49 years -- was too long. Guelph signed a 35-year agreement with the developer.
"I've never heard of one that long," he said of Windsor's deal. "I don't know what kind of shape the arena will be in after that."
ARENA COSTS
* Barrie: $15 million
* Brampton: $24.8 million
* Sarnia: $15.9 million
* Guelph: $21 million
* Mississauga: $22 million