Just a FYI about what some other communities are doing…This is St. Catharines, future home of the OHL Ice Dogs. The Meridian Centre info can be found here.
I understand that the guaranteed maximum $50 million for the Meridian Centre is a bit low by Thunder Bay standards. You must remember that the city of St Catharines does not apply the Thunder Bay surcharge to its projects.
You take the $50 million St. Catharines price and add the Thunder Bay surcharge and you come up with $106 million. Its that simple. See.
Budget for the St Catherines project
- $50 million
- $44 million paid by the City of St. Catharines.
- $1 million paid by the Province of Ontario.
- $5.23 million raised through Meridian’s sponsorship.
Interesting that the Province of Ontario is only paying $1 million towards the Meridian Centre. Nothing from the Government of Canada
We are looking for $70 million from those two levels of government in order for our project to move ahead. In other words, we want Ontario and Canada to give us 150% of the cost of the Meridian Centre just so Thunder Bay’s Event Centre gets built. Think about that for a second.
Some other interesting facts about the Meridian Centre
Entertainment
- Capacity of 6,000 for concerts and 4,500 for hockey games.
- Able to accommodate concerts, conventions, professional wrestling, family shows and spectacles and more.
- Twenty-year lease agreement signed with the Niagara IceDogs.
Operation
- Scheduled to open September 2014.
- Located at 55 McGuire St., formerly known as the lower level parking lot.
- Two pedestrian bridges will connect the Meridian Centre to St. Paul Street. The North Bridge will be located between James and Queen streets and the South Bridge will be located across from William Street.
- Parking for more than 1,300 vehicles at nearby City parking lots and garages, with most lots and garages located within a 5-minute walk to the Meridian Centre.
- The Meridian Centre is operated by SMG Canada.
Other than the number of seats, the building sounds a lot like our Event Centre.
Funny that the Feasibility Study for the Event Centre did not include something along the lines of the St. Catharines arena. I wonder why? Why does our facility cost more than double that of St. Catharines? Do 1500 more seats cost $50 million?
I wonder what bus drivers get paid in St Catharines?
Another interesting website
http://whyinnovaparkworks.blogspot.ca/2014/01/look-what-can-be-done-for-only-38.html
