I see no problem with consolidating the "community arenas" although such a consolidation is actually building more of a regional sportsplex to replace community arenas.
However, I would like the city to build a stand alone main arena for the Spits, University of Windsor varsity, St. Clair College varsity, figure skating, concerts, curling championships, etc. Look at the success London has had with the JLA. Look at the civic pride that facility has generated! People from out of town see that facility and are impressed. If Windsor had built its new arena out at the race track, no one from out of town would ever see it. Ottawa's Scotiabank Place is a great example of a suburban arena in the middle of nowhere that does nothing for civic pride.
Anyway, here is Gord Henderson's take on the arena situation (it is unfortunate that Gord essentially has a monopoly on print column's with respect to Windsor):
Cautiously optimistic
Gord Henderson, Windsor Star
Published: Saturday, April 29, 2006
Ooh boy. Here we go again. That was my gut reaction as I moved my battered wallet to a more secure place while nervously appraising the news that the City of Windsor is contemplating a $55.4-million arena project.
Could this be 2002 revisited? Could it be a replay of the gruesome exercise that saw $3.5 million squandered in former mayor Mike Hurst's go-it-alone downtown arena crusade that, in the end, proved much too costly at $52 million and change? If $52 million was, in Hurst's words, "simply too expensive to go forward," how could $55.4 million be a reasonable price four years later?
The answer, of course, is that there's been a mind-boggling transformation of Windsor's finances over the past two-and-a-half years, from fiscal basket case to a city that has cash jingling in its pocket and revenue streams in its future to match its aspirations.
Concerned that this could be another half-baked dream chase, I asked Mayor Eddie Francis to walk me through the numbers Friday. He did. And at the end of the process I understood why councillors agreed unanimously to move on to the next stage and get more detailed information.
Bottom line. Thanks to the pay-as-you-go policy introduced by former finance czar Roman Martiuk and, especially, the current council's debt reduction strategy, Windsor's longterm debt is more than $100 million less than had been anticipated. Instead of the $276 million debt projected for the end of 2006, it's expected to come in at $161 million.
I'm no accountant. I still have nightmares about high school algebra exams. But it doesn't take a mathematical wizard to recognize that Windsor, under its current leadership, has made a spectacular financial comeback.
And it gets better. By turning its finances around and funding major projects out of revenues, Windsor is saving $81.7 million in interest payment over 20 years, more than $4 million annually, that would have been paid on debentures.
TORRENTS OF MONEY
By 2009, when major projects like the Norwich Block fiasco, the city hall welfare tower mistake and the new Huron Lodge at St. Clair College have been paid off, the city will find itself with torrents of money flowing in and no major funding obligations. In 2009 it will have an additional $23.5 million available, in 2010 $36.4 million and in 2011 another $36.4 million.
Taxpayers like me, long accustomed to thinking of Windsor as being one step removed from the poorhouse, have a hard time getting our heads around the concept of this city keeping a lid on taxes while having cash available for big projects.
"If this was 2002 financial circumstances, it wouldn't even be talked about. But our financial prudence is paying off and giving us flexibility. We can pay for this (the arena complex) without going to debentures and without going to the taxpayers," explained Francis. He cautioned that this is still early in the process and the numbers are preliminary. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done. And unless there's a solid business case that can be justified, nothing will happen."
One of the stronger arguments in favour of building this four-pad arena complex is that it will generate significant savings in operating costs for decades to come.
Riverside Arena, Adstoll Arena and the Edward Street recreation centre are all money losers that require subsidization by city taxpayers and are in urgent need of replacement. Moving those operations to a four-plex that would turn a small profit annually and turning Windsor Arena into a civic rink could generate savings of as much as $700,000 annually over the status quo.
You never know. The price might mushroom out of sight by the time the experts finish crunching the numbers. If so, the project will end up on the shelf and planning for the Barn's centennial bash will move into high gear.
But I have a feeling that this time it might be for real. A city council that's facing re-election in November would like nothing better, especially given the buzz around the new Spitfires ownership, than to be able to boast that it got the arena monkey off Windsor's back and managed to do it without bashing the taxpayers.
Success has its rewards. And the reward for the city's fiscal rectitude, for paying off the mortgage and cutting up the credit cards, so to speak, would be a spanking new arena to rival the likes of Mississauga, Barrie, Sarnia and London.
And if it doesn't happen this time? Kiss it goodbye for a generation.
ghenderson@thestar.canwest.com
© The Windsor Star 2006