[thistleclub]

Years to move on new Hamilton arena too long: Bulldogs owner
(Hamilton Spectator, Scott Radley, Feb 2 2018)

A recent comment by Mayor Fred Eisenberger that it could take years for the city to decide what to do with FirstOntario Centre has prompted the owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs to say that's far too protracted a time frame and the pace has to be accelerated.

Eisenberger was on 900CHML with Bill Kelly the other day when he was asked for an update on what's going on with the aging, 33-year-old arena. This question was in response to Michael Andlauer's offer of a few months ago to put millions of his own dollars toward a new, smaller facility somewhere in town.

The mayor said a process is now underway to figure out what to do with the arena as well as the city's other entertainment facilities.


"That's going to take a few years," Eisenberger said. "Getting into an arena issue with the costs that are associated with that is going to be a complex issue and it's going to take some time for us to sort out what's the best path to go forward here."

On Thursday, he said his answer was a best guess based on past examples and it might just take a couple years. Perhaps less. But considering some issues — he cited Pier 7 and 8 — have taken 20 years to resolve, it won't happen instantly.

"That's not something that happens in a couple of months," Eisenberger said.

Andlauer says he wasn't surprised at this because the city doesn't make quick changes. As a result, he knows it can't happen overnight. And he says he wants to be fair and give the city enough room to deal with the issue properly. But a few years, he says, will probably become more than a few years.

"By that time, they'll have spent millions of dollars just to keep the roof on," Andlauer says. "They're going to waste taxpayers' money in fixing the facility rather than going out there and getting something new."

....

"We can't wait five years," Andlauer said. "People are going to lose interest."

Ideally, he would like to be in a new facility within three years. Which means a crawling pace toward a decision isn't acceptable to him.


Read it in full here.