Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxster
I say leave the city only if you cannot be self sustaining.
|
I could be wrong, but I don't think that there is a junior hockey team in Canada that plays in a facility that wasn't built with public money. Gatineau is unlikely to be the first.
The question for me is whether a spectator arena provides a public benefit for the citizens of Gatineau. To me, the answer is pretty clearly yes. If Gatineau was to demolish its existing arena as suggested, it would be in pretty scant company in terms of cities of that size without a public facility to allow it to host those the type of events envisioned for the Centre Multifonctionnel. Would that have an impact in terms of whether Gatineau is a desirable place to live, and its attractiveness to capital? I would say so, and that has a broader impact.
I suspect that the prospect of no arena means that some sort of PPP will end up being developed, and the city will put in funding in the way of guaranteed rental, land etc., but will have little say in the way the building is operated. Often that ends up being a worse deal for the taxpayers.