Northlands needs more information about a proposed downtown arena deal to determine how well Rexall Place would do as a competitor, president Richard Andersen says.
Although Andersen has vowed since last year to keep operating Rexall for concerts and other events if the Oilers move out, he said Tuesday Northlands has always looked for a “collaborative” way to be part of the arrangement.
“It was never our desire to be in a situation where we would be a town with two public assembly facilities that are essentially Class A arenas,” he said in his first public comment on the agreement recommended to city council.
“There’s a lot of information that still hasn’t been sorted out. We’re really unclear how this works, how the (ticket) surcharge works. Candidly, we don’t think the city is clear either.”
City manager Simon Farbrother told councillors last week that Oilers owner Daryl Katz has dropped his insistence that Northlands accept a non-compete clause before a new building can be constructed.
Farbrother also suggested tickets on events at Rexall face the same surcharge as will be imposed to help pay the $450-million cost of the downtown facility.
This would keep the playing field level between the two sites, he said.
Andersen said he only heard these details, which came out of bargaining last week between Katz and the city at NHL headquarters in New York, at the same time as everyone else.
While he spoke to Farbrother this week, he said he can’t comment on the impact of a new surcharge – the current one annually pays about $2 million to Northlands and $4 million to the Oilers – or whether it should be imposed.
Northlands also hasn’t done enough analysis to determine how successful Rexall could be without NHL hockey, Andersen said.
“The city is well aware that Edmonton is not a town that would do well with two arenas. If we’re forced into that position … I (have) said I like our chances,” he said.
“We could sure make it work, but at this point we’re still waiting to see what comes out of council.”
Part of the issue is determining how long the Oilers want to stay in Rexall, he said.
The team originally hoped to be in a new rink by the time the lease expires in 2014, but now says that won’t happen.
The Katz Group hasn’t responded to a Northlands request to discuss extending their arrangement, Andersen said.
Northlands officials won’t take part in next Tuesday’s public hearing because councillors already know what they think, he said.
The hearing comes one day before council is scheduled to vote on a final agreement.
Coun. Ed Gibbons said he still doesn’t feel the organization is being treated properly, asking why money from a Rexall ticket tax is intended to go to the city instead of Northlands.
He’d rather continue using surcharge cash to help the non-profit society with maintenance and repairs on the building, as currently happens.
“I just think it’s unfair the city can come up with this kind of decision without even going and talking to Northlands. Is it their way of shutting the (Rexall) operation down for sure?”
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