Kingston Concerned About
the LVEC
Currently known as the "KROCK Centre"
Formerly the "Kingston Regional Sports and Entertainment Centre" or KRSEC
Formerly the "Large Venue Entertainment Centre" or LVEC
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Whig Standard Dec 1 2006
Stopping arena would cost $13M
By Jordan Press
Local News - Friday, December 01, 2006 Updated @ 11:46:39 PM
Killing the downtown sports and entertainment centre could cost taxpayers as
much as $13.4 million, according to a memo delivered to politicians this week.
The three-page memorandum gives a breakdown of all the costs involved in the
$41.8-million project so far, and those that could have an impact on the final
price of cancelling construction.
Right now, cancellation costs range from $8.1 million to $13.4 million, the memo
says.
The letter, handed out to the incoming council Wednesday night, concludes that
cancellation costs could fall on the taxpayer.
"It should be noted that with the cancellation of the project, all costs to be
covered by the city would have to be funded by reserve funds or by tax levy as
there would be no donations, grants or projected revenues from operations to
finance the expenditures," the memo reads.
The memo followed an election in which the arena became a central issue.
During the campaign, mayoralty candidate Councillor Kevin George said that, if
elected, he would ask council to revisit the arena’s finances, perhaps freezing
the work or cancelling it altogether.
The arena was a prime subject of concern from voters at the doors and candidates
heard it from worried residents.
After the election, many of the incoming councillors asked for information about
the project.
Staff had already started putting numbers together because they expected new
councillors wanted to have them.
"We were going to table it as a report" when the new council met, said chief
administrative officer Glen Laubenstein. "Nobody pressured us into it."
While some of the numbers are concrete – such as those that the city or builder
EllisDon have already paid – other numbers are estimates, said project manager
Lanie Hurdle.
EllisDon has started work on site and a lot of material has not yet been
finalized, she said.
The costs also include the potential loss of donations and grants from the
province and local business associations.
In the breakdown of costs, staff wrote that the city has already paid just under
$3.9 million, which includes salaries and fees for reports such as the market
study, archeological work and insurance costs.
EllisDon has not invoiced the city for $4.24 million even though it has done, or
will be doing, the work this week. Operator Arcturus/SMG would be owed $132,000
in salaries, in expenses and for a naming rights analysis.
The memo notes that EllisDon would be owed a portion, if not all, of the
approximately $5.3 million in fees it has committed to paying for things such as
steel.
Staff didn’t look at costs for moving the arena to a new site. The city would
still have to pay for items it has already been charged for, but there would be
things, such as foundation work, that couldn’t be recovered, Hurdle said.
The total cost of moving the project would depend on the chosen site and what
work had to be done on it, she said.
Councillor-elect for Trillium district Vicki Schmolka said she sees the memo as
a useful piece of information, but not the definitive document on the arena.
"I consider this an hors d'oeuvre," she said.
There are still questions about the arena she said she feels obligated to ask
after hearing from voters.
"I’m glad we’re starting to get some information," she said. "We need a lot
more. This is not everything we need about this project."
Although he doesn’t like the location, councillor-elect Rob Matheson said it
seems from the numbers that the city is going to have to proceed with the
project.
"These are taxpayer dollars being spent and I don’t want to see those types of
figures being flushed down the toilet," said Matheson, who is taking over from
Councillor Kevin George in Loyalist-Cataraqui. "It sure doesn’t appear
worthwhile cancelling the project."
Councillor-elect in Sydenham district Bill Glover said that the memo doesn’t
change his stance, which is that the city has to make the best of a bad
situation.
The memo should have had information presenting some of the positives of
cancelling the project, said councillor-elect Mark Gerretsen, adding that
doesn’t mean he’s in favour of stopping the project.
"Looking over it, it appeared somewhat in line with what people were saying,"
said Gerretsen, who is taking over from Councillor Beth Pater in Portsmouth
district.
"What I’m really interested in knowing is what it’s really going to cost to stop
now and start in a new location."
Councillor Steve Garrison said he wanted to see how much it would cost to cancel
the contract with EllisDon.
"Without that information, we don’t have the whole picture," he said.
After reading the memo, Garrison said his feelings on the project haven’t
changed.
"I still believe it’s going to cost us a lot more than we were led to believe,"
he said.
"How the LVEC unfolds is going to be interesting," Garrison said later. "I don’t
think the majority of this council ... were big fans of this LVEC."
What also hasn’t been finalized is the site plan as city planning staff haven’t
given it the OK.
Reports are still due back on traffic accessibility to the site and mechanical
noise emanating from the arena rooftop, Hurdle said.
While EllisDon has revised its noise report in relation to a concert, it hasn’t
done the mechanical report because it revised its machine selection last week,
Hurdle said.
jpress@thewhig.com