Naming rights to LVEC won't be final until the fall, say staff
By Bill Hutchins
Heritage Staff
National companies appear to be lining up to put their name to Kingston's new
sports and entertainment centre.
But local citizens likely won't get to see the final selection until this fall.
Cynthia Beach, the commissioner overseeing the $46 million arena construction
project, says the naming rights search won't be finished in June, as staff had
earlier anticipated.
"We're looking at a time line of August or September to complete that process,"
she says.
However, Beach says there is no shortage of companies willing to put their name
up in bright lights on the city's marquee arena. "We've got over a dozen
qualified companies who are interested."
She wouldn't identify them, except to say most are nationally-known companies
with offices or stores across the country. An earlier attempt to canvass
interest from the local business community failed to generate any bidders.
The naming process will eventually be moved to the public arena once a preferred
company is found. Council will have the final decision, in an open meeting, on
the selection. While residents won't be able to challenge the name that's
attached to the entertainment centre, they will have input on whether to call it
a 'Centre', 'Place' or some other title that will follow the corporate name.
Selling the corporate naming rights is a critical issue to resolve for the arena
still commonly referred to as the LVEC (Large Venue. Entertainment Centre). The
city is banking on a company to spend at least $150,000 a year - for at least
ten years - to have its name attached to the downtown arena, along with
advertising extras on the inside. It's part of the revenue projections spelled
out in the arena's business plan which is needed to pay its own way.
Wakeham and Associates, a national recruiting firm, has been hired to canvass
businesses to purchase naming rights.
The city can't proceed with some of the interior finishes until a corporate
arena sponsor is found because the chosen colours can not be those of a
competitor, for example.
Meanwhile, the recent construction strikes have slowed work on the arena's big
steel frame along Ontario Street, near the Lasalle Causeway. The frame was
supposed to be finished by the end of June. The work was falling behind even
before the labour stoppages. "We're about four weeks behind on this critical
path (steel frame) item," says Beach.
City staff are waiting for a updated report from builder EllisDon on the
construction impact from the recent craneoperators strike, and now, the
labourers' strike, to see if those will delay the arena's opening date.
The LVEC is supposed to be built by mid-December, with a target public opening
date of January 17, 2008.
"If the labour dispute is causing more delays we need to find out how long it
is, and whether it will impact the opening event," says the commissioner.
The opening gala will include hockey, concerts and public tours of the facility
which can accommodate about 5,000 spectators.
Meanwhile, the arena's beefed up contingency fund is expected to face its first
big draw down. The final bill for on-site environmental work is expected to be
up to $250,000 higher than anticipated, and the extra cost is expected to come
from the project's $1.5 million contingency fund.
"Even with the draw down we'll still have a healthy reserve of 80 percent," adds
Beach.