EDMONTON- Edmonton City Council has voted in favour of borrowing money for the downtown arena project.
Wednesday morning, council passed a bylaw- that amended a previous bylaw- authorizing the city to borrow the entire amount needed to acquire downtown arena land.
The original bylaw saw $56 million being borrowed, but it was increased to a total of just under $542 million. That amount will cover the cost of acquiring land and constructing the arena. The debt will paid off over the course of 25 to 30 years.
“$56 million is allocated in order to do the design and the initial work. And the balance of the borrowing was done, as expected, because you can’t build a $400 or $500 million arena for $56 million,” Mayor Stephen Mandel explained.
Mandel says passing the bylaw didn’t come as a surprise to him.
“When we voted 10-3 to pass the original motion about going ahead, that was the big hurdle. Now, I mean, if you support that you should support this… It’s pretty simple.”
Councillors Diotte, Sloan and Caterina voted against the bylaw.
Council also passed a ticket surcharge bylaw Wednesday, which will account for $125 million of the overall cost. The city is counting on a community revitalization levy and other city revenues to cover its $279 million portion of the arena deal.
With files from Shane Jones, Global News.
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