keoadmin
04-30-2004, 02:56 PM
Kingston Electors
MEDIA RELEASE: Friday, April 30th, 2004
• http://www.kingstonelectors.ca
• info@kingstonelectors.ca
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Kingston Electors says many questions need answers before LVEC proposal gets go-ahead
Kingston Electors has posted a list of issues and questions on its website that it says require urgent consideration before City Council gives the go-ahead to the Large Venue Entertainment Centre (LVEC) recommended by the mayor’s task force.
“Our questions are by no means exhaustive, but they need answers and are representative of the concerns that must be addressed if the project is to win and maintain public support,” said Mary Zureik, a member of the Kingston Electors board of advisors and the researcher and author of the current editorial.
Kingston Electors, which is committed to improving municipal government through the discussion and exchange of issues and ideas, is urging members of City Council and others to use the editorial as one of its references in assessing the merits of the task force recommendations.
“We are putting forth an objective assessment of the LVEC proposal in terms of what’s missing in the task force proposal,” says Nancy Foster, a former city councillor and Kingston Elector’s moderator. “Our aim is to encourage participation in an informed debate about the project. Our position is that before people – including councillors who will ultimately be voting on the project on behalf of their constituents – can decide whether they are in favour or against it, they need answers to many more questions, many of which have not yet been raised in public discussion.”
The editorial states in part: “It is understandable that deteriorating conditions at the Memorial Centre and civic pride have created public support for a new facility. We recognize the public frustration over neighbourhood protection and lack of policies on waterfront development and the fear that the LVEC proposal could suffer a similar fate as Block D.”
“Before any decisions are made, we call for full public consultation and scrutiny of the proposal and encourage the recently established steering committee to research details that perhaps the task force did not have time to pursue.”
Kingston Electors’ questions include the following:
· Location and impact on the neighbourhood: If events are largely in the evening, how do businesses other than restaurants and bars benefit? What proportion of those using the centre will be out-of-town visitors using local hotels compared to area people accessing the proposed site by car? Is the building of a huge arena the best use of a prime waterfront site?
· Size of the project: How did the task force determine the best size of an arena when recent Junior A hockey games have attracted on average only 2,250 attendees. Even the OH suggests Kingston build 4,000 to 5,000 seats rather than the approximately 6,500 seats suggested by the committee.
· Financing: Is there a business plan? The task force reports that to be a financial success, the facility will hinge on the ability to book approximately 50 nights of entertainment a year in addition to OHL games. There could potentially be up to 300 days a year when the facility is not in use. How large an impact on the profitability of the entertainment centre is attributed to Queen's students since they are only in Kingston eight or nine months of the year and will sponsor their own events in the new Queen’s student complex?
· Timing: Is the city ready to make a commitment to a major investment before the City’s Official Plan is complete? Where does the LVEC fit in the priorities of other major projects required by the city?
The Kingston Electors online website can be accessed at www.kingstonelectors.ca
-30-
Direct inquiries or requests for more information to:
Mary Zureik
Member, Kingston Electors Board of Advisors
Tel. (613) 531-9129
Email: zureikm@cogeco.ca
MEDIA RELEASE: Friday, April 30th, 2004
• http://www.kingstonelectors.ca
• info@kingstonelectors.ca
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kingston Electors says many questions need answers before LVEC proposal gets go-ahead
Kingston Electors has posted a list of issues and questions on its website that it says require urgent consideration before City Council gives the go-ahead to the Large Venue Entertainment Centre (LVEC) recommended by the mayor’s task force.
“Our questions are by no means exhaustive, but they need answers and are representative of the concerns that must be addressed if the project is to win and maintain public support,” said Mary Zureik, a member of the Kingston Electors board of advisors and the researcher and author of the current editorial.
Kingston Electors, which is committed to improving municipal government through the discussion and exchange of issues and ideas, is urging members of City Council and others to use the editorial as one of its references in assessing the merits of the task force recommendations.
“We are putting forth an objective assessment of the LVEC proposal in terms of what’s missing in the task force proposal,” says Nancy Foster, a former city councillor and Kingston Elector’s moderator. “Our aim is to encourage participation in an informed debate about the project. Our position is that before people – including councillors who will ultimately be voting on the project on behalf of their constituents – can decide whether they are in favour or against it, they need answers to many more questions, many of which have not yet been raised in public discussion.”
The editorial states in part: “It is understandable that deteriorating conditions at the Memorial Centre and civic pride have created public support for a new facility. We recognize the public frustration over neighbourhood protection and lack of policies on waterfront development and the fear that the LVEC proposal could suffer a similar fate as Block D.”
“Before any decisions are made, we call for full public consultation and scrutiny of the proposal and encourage the recently established steering committee to research details that perhaps the task force did not have time to pursue.”
Kingston Electors’ questions include the following:
· Location and impact on the neighbourhood: If events are largely in the evening, how do businesses other than restaurants and bars benefit? What proportion of those using the centre will be out-of-town visitors using local hotels compared to area people accessing the proposed site by car? Is the building of a huge arena the best use of a prime waterfront site?
· Size of the project: How did the task force determine the best size of an arena when recent Junior A hockey games have attracted on average only 2,250 attendees. Even the OH suggests Kingston build 4,000 to 5,000 seats rather than the approximately 6,500 seats suggested by the committee.
· Financing: Is there a business plan? The task force reports that to be a financial success, the facility will hinge on the ability to book approximately 50 nights of entertainment a year in addition to OHL games. There could potentially be up to 300 days a year when the facility is not in use. How large an impact on the profitability of the entertainment centre is attributed to Queen's students since they are only in Kingston eight or nine months of the year and will sponsor their own events in the new Queen’s student complex?
· Timing: Is the city ready to make a commitment to a major investment before the City’s Official Plan is complete? Where does the LVEC fit in the priorities of other major projects required by the city?
The Kingston Electors online website can be accessed at www.kingstonelectors.ca
-30-
Direct inquiries or requests for more information to:
Mary Zureik
Member, Kingston Electors Board of Advisors
Tel. (613) 531-9129
Email: zureikm@cogeco.ca