EDMONTON – Since new developments about Edmonton’s proposed downtown arena first surfaced on Tuesday, the future of the project has been put into question.
Mayor Stephen Mandel spoke about the situation in depth on Global Edmonton’s Morning News on Thursday. While he seemed slightly frustrated by the current situation, he reiterated his commitment to the project.
Here’s a look at some of what he said:
On the cost and the obstacles:
“The price right now, from what I’ve been told is $470 million. There’s a $5 million dollar discrepancy between certain things, but it’s $470 million, which – from the letters you guys have released, we don’t know that much about, indicate that they’ll pay half. (Note: The $470 million price is $20 million over budget) So I don’t think, at the end of the day, that council is not going to go ahead for $10 million…I don’t think that’s a deal breaker at all. There’s a lot of other things that separate us that are in negotiations, that I really don’t think it’s correct to talk about. But there’s a plethora of issues that are separating us, and hopefully the Katz group and the City can get together and find solutions.
On the possibility of the Oilers leaving if this downtown arena isn’t built:
“I can’t speak to that, other than Edmonton is an incredible hockey team. We have one of the highest attendances, the highest ticket prices. We have an incredible community that’s fascinated with NHL hockey and a media that is enamoured with it as well….and so, we don’t want the Oilers to leave. They’re Edmonton’s team. Mr. Katz feels the same way. We’ve got to figure out how to bridge those gaps. Council has to answer to the public. This isn’t like ‘we have an unfettered cheque to write’…it’s not easy to just say ‘oh yeah, we’ll do this, we’ll do that,’ you know. The councillors are concerned about public response.”
On the question of whether there’s a ‘plan B’ to downtown revitalization if the arena doesn’t go ahead:
“I don’t think, at this point in time, I’m prepared to talk about a plan B. I think there probably is one. But I think you really want to make sure we go through, and work with, and try – as hard as possible – with the Katz group to come up with solutions that might be met, and different ideas, and different solutions.”
On how he feels about the current situation:
“I don’t want to say I’m not hopeful, I don’t want to say I’m optimistic either. You know, I think it’s vitally important for the city of Edmonton to build a facility downtown and make sure the Oilers stay here. And at what cost is that? Where’s the balance? Where’s the cost balance? We’ll have to find out.”
On what some people say is ‘a lot of money’ for an arena:
“I know people talk about ‘a lot of money,’ It isn’t, in the greater scheme of things, a lot of money. We have a capital budget of almost a billion and a half dollars a year. We’re not talking about tons of money, we’re talking about more public perception, a public policy, a public belief in, you know, what the city should and shouldn’t do. So there’s a lot more politics involved than maybe there should be in this.”
You can watch the full 10 minute interview below:
SOUNDOFF:Tell us what you think on Facebook – With the debate continuing to drag on, how do you feel about the arena project? Tell us on our Facebook page.
You can also read the letter the Katz Group sent to the city, which touches on some of the points of contention, below:
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