In Thursday's paper, Mayor Rosen said he hadn't heard many "compelling arguments" against the Anglin Bay location for the LVEC. Clearly the Mayor hasn't been listening. For months, the compelling reasons for not building there have been flowing like, well, water.
The site is home to Metalcraft Marine. The company employs more than 50 people. Metalcraft requires a waterfront location - the arena does not. Metalcraft pays good industrial wages while, once constructed, the arena will not. Relocation of Metalcraft's manufacturing would result in increased costs that would make a successful business less competitive. Environmental studies of the site suggest the costs of managing groundwater and soil contamination problems will be considerable. These are not accounted for in the business plan indeed they are not yet known.
Parking studies prepared for the City contain significant errors that underestimate the impact of LVEC traffic. With inadequate parking, the LVEC cannot attract large events like the Memorial Cup.
The LVEC business plan fails to include the costs of buying land and relocating Metalcraft. The business plan claims that $8 million dollars of funding will come from government grants. Yet there is no mention of any granting program that could make this possible. The business plan suggests that shortfalls in funding will be covered by the City's reserve fund - a pot of money that should be pegged for emergencies and required city services not for entertainment centres.
Anglin Bay sits adjacent a growing residential neighbourhood on the edge of downtown. Urban planners tell us that if you want a downtown to thrive, you can't just rely on tourism, you need to attract residents. Unlike tourists, residents nurture all types of businesses, not just hotels and restaurants. Attracting residents would seem to preclude developments that take up green-space like Douglas Fluher Park or that promote late-night crowds, traffic, and noise.
Supporters of the Anglin Bay site claim it will bring economic benefits to the downtown. Yet, across North America, independent economists have shown that sports arenas and stadiums are not engines of economic development. Given the holes in the business plan, the LVEC is far more likely to become a tax burden on businesses and residents alike.
A year and a half into this process the Mayor has yet to comment on the inevitable economic effects a project of this size will have on other City initiatives. We have yet to see the detailed research that should have been used to justify the site selection decision. There has been a stunning lack of attention paid to the concerns of those who live near Anglin Bay. No surprise then that the feeling on the street is that the whole LVEC process has been undemocratic and the antithesis of collaborative community decision making.
For months we have been condescended to by the Mayor and by a small elite of business people none of whom has yet responded seriously to the many concerns raised about this site. It's not Mayor Rosen who needs to hear compelling, logical arguments, it's the citizens of Kingston.
Mary Louise Adams