Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee expects to receive a report from the task force, tasked with exploring what a new arena would include and how much it will cost, by the middle of the year.
“The task force is off and running and has been doing a lot of work; talking to a lot of user groups,’’ Lee said in a year-end interview with The Guardian. “They have hired a consultant to work with them now to see what is happening in other parts of the country but, more importantly, to come to grips with what are the needs in Charlottetown.’’
The City of Charlottetown listed in its 2016 capital budget money that would be at the disposal of the task force.
The task force, chaired by Mike Hennessey, includes Brian Cameron, Spencer Campbell, Dennis King, Barb Stevenson, Charlottetown Coun. Mitchell Tweel and Berni Wood.
None of this guarantees a new arena will be built. It would probably cost between $40 million to $60 million to do it, and that money would have to come from various levels of government.
But the creation of the task force is one sign pointing to it happening, and many think the 2023 Canada Games, which P.E.I. is hosting, may lead to a new arena much the same way the announcement that the 1991 Canada Games were being hosted by P.E.I. led to the construction of Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown.
“I think it’s a fantastic announcement and provides a new opportunity for a multi-use facility to become a reality. We may be, in that sense, repeating history,’’ Lee said, referring to 1991 and 2023.
Lee says the project would have to include a logical business plan.
A new arena would certainly help Charlottetown address its ice surfaces issue. At the moment, the city subsidizes its facilities to the tune of more than $1 million per year, something Lee says is not sustainable.
Charlottetown also has some decisions looming in regard to aging buildings. Not only is Eastlink Centre more than 20 years old, Cody Banks Arena and Simmons Sport Centre don’t have a lot of years left in them without significant upgrades.
Lee has also said in the past a new building would have to include new facilities for the Charlottetown Curling Club, which has been looking at its options over the past few years.
Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee expects to receive a report from the task force, tasked with exploring what a new arena would include and how much it will cost, by the middle of the year.
“The task force is off and running and has been doing a lot of work; talking to a lot of user groups,’’ Lee said in a year-end interview with The Guardian. “They have hired a consultant to work with them now to see what is happening in other parts of the country but, more importantly, to come to grips with what are the needs in Charlottetown.’’
The City of Charlottetown listed in its 2016 capital budget money that would be at the disposal of the task force.
The task force, chaired by Mike Hennessey, includes Brian Cameron, Spencer Campbell, Dennis King, Barb Stevenson, Charlottetown Coun. Mitchell Tweel and Berni Wood.
None of this guarantees a new arena will be built. It would probably cost between $40 million to $60 million to do it, and that money would have to come from various levels of government.
But the creation of the task force is one sign pointing to it happening, and many think the 2023 Canada Games, which P.E.I. is hosting, may lead to a new arena much the same way the announcement that the 1991 Canada Games were being hosted by P.E.I. led to the construction of Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown.
“I think it’s a fantastic announcement and provides a new opportunity for a multi-use facility to become a reality. We may be, in that sense, repeating history,’’ Lee said, referring to 1991 and 2023.
Lee says the project would have to include a logical business plan.
A new arena would certainly help Charlottetown address its ice surfaces issue. At the moment, the city subsidizes its facilities to the tune of more than $1 million per year, something Lee says is not sustainable.
Charlottetown also has some decisions looming in regard to aging buildings. Not only is Eastlink Centre more than 20 years old, Cody Banks Arena and Simmons Sport Centre don’t have a lot of years left in them without significant upgrades.
Lee has also said in the past a new building would have to include new facilities for the Charlottetown Curling Club, which has been looking at its options over the past few years.