EDMONTON – Edmonton city council made its final vote on the downtown arena Wednesday; passing a motion on the capital plan to fund the project in a vote of 10 to 3.
Councillors Ben Henderson, Don Iveson, Amarjeet Sohi, Karen Leibovici, Kim Krushell, Bryan Anderson, Ed Gibbons, Dave Loken, Jane Batty, and Stephen Mandel voted in favour of the deal.
“This is about building a future for tomorrow, building a city that sees and wants its younger generation to see this as a place to build their tomorrows,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel. “I think this is a project of tomorrows, and I think those who supported it in council see that. This is going to be a tremendous project.”
“Of course there is risk in everything,” said Councillor Loken, “but if you say no to everything and you don’t take risks, you don’t grow, you don’t go anywhere. And what kind of city are we if we stand still? This is a visionary project. Not just a vision for today, but a vision for the future.”
Councillors Kerry Diotte, Tony Caterina, and Linda Sloan voted against it.
“This deal has morphed into a Frankenstein monster,” said Councillor Diotte. “Even the worst referee in the NHL could see that it’s way offside. People are truly furious about this. It is a bad deal for Edmontonians, and I will not support it.”
Councillor Iveson, who has not voted in favour of several arena motions recently, voted to support the deal this time, saying one reason he made the decision was the amendment to replace the funds coming from Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) with funds coming from the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL).
“As tough as this deal is to swallow, I don’t see how realistically we can make it any better by dragging it out further,” he explained. “Since this is the final vote I can no longer hope to change the deal. So I will vote yes, accepting the outcomes of the imperfect process, accepting that the will of council is to go ahead despite the imperfections of the deal.”
During Wednesday’s special council meeting, council heard a recommendation from Simon Farbrother that sees the Katz Group putting up an additional $15 million and the city putting up an additional $15 million from Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) funds.
The Downtown Arena Capital Profile Approval was passed by council in a special meeting Wednesday afternoon. It outlines where the money for the arena project will come from (read full motion below):
– A transfer of $25 million in budget for arena land from Capital Project Profile
– Financing of $541,811,000 through debenture debt ($279,000,000 from Community Revitalization Levy and other City incremental revenues, $125,000,000 from ticket surcharge on hockey and non-hockey events held at the arena, $137,810,000 from lease revenue for the arena)
– $23.69 million in third party funding ($25 million from the provincial Regional Collaboration Program, and $7 million each from the province and the federal government).
Representatives of the Katz Group (or the Edmonton Arena Corporation) were pleased with Wednesday’s decision, despite feeling some pressure to get the deal done.
“I think that everybody was feeling pressure,” said Daryl Katz.
“This was not an easy deal. A lot of people within the city and certainly within our group have worked countless and endless hours to make this happen.”
“I’m just over the moon about it for a lot of ways,” President and CEO of the Edmonton Oilers, Patrick LaForge, told Global News.
“We’ve been at this a long time… a lot of people have worked together. There’s been a really good synergy between us and city hall so you have to celebrate that.”
“22 acres of downtown gets this unbelievable infusion of an entertainment district,” he added.
As LaForge said, it’s a project that has been a long time in the making.
In an archived news script dated February 22, 2007, Global News first reported rumblings of a new Edmonton arena.
The first known script discussing the now infamous arena reads “As rumours of a downtown arena quietly circulate in Edmonton, Northlands is assessing what can be done to Rexall Place.”
The arena debate may have begun quietly enough, but, more than six years later, it’s one that has occupied hundreds of council meetings, newscasts, and countless public discussions.
“This soap opera has continues for six or seven years,” said Councillor Leibovici, at the end of Wednesday’s meeting.
“This has been a long, long, tedious process,” echoed Councillor Gibbons.
“Thank god we’re almost at the finish line here,” Councillor Loken remarked.
“We’ve all been on the roller coaster,” said LaForge. “I don’t think anybody ever gave up on the project because, you know, here we are.”
In February 2010, Daryl Katz posted a video message in which he told the city “it’s Edmonton’s time. Thank you for your support and stay tuned.”
Three years later, a deal between the Katz Group and the City of Edmonton has finally been negotiated and agreed upon.
“It is about saying no to status quo and ‘good enough’ thinking,” stressed Councillor Sohi in his final statement Wednesday.
Now that city council has given the project the green light, construction is scheduled to begin next spring. Officials hope the facility will be finished in time for the 2016 hockey season.
Read the full documents being discussed at city council below (NOTE: the MSI portion was reassigned to CRL):
Comments