Prince George first tapped into the financial benefits of selling off naming rights to city facilities in April 2005 when CN Rail agreed to sponsor the building formerly known as the Prince George Multiplex and rename it CN Centre.
That 15-year deal to put the CN brand on the 6,000-seat ice rink/entertainment complex will have added $1.3 million to city coffers by the time the contract expires next April, and CN will have an option to renew for another 10 years.
In March 2006, the Prince George Citizen stepped up the plate as the name sponsor of Citizen Field, the city's premier baseball stadium, which opened that spring. The 10-year deal, which was renewed in 2016, initially paid for installation of the scoreboard. It provides the city $10,000 annually.
It happened again in January 2016 when the Prince George Coliseum became Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, a five-year sponsorship arrangement which also involves the community-owned Prince George Spruce Kings junior A hockey team. Rolling Mix Concrete will provide the city between $25,000 and $30,000 annually, part of which is used each year to provide the concrete used to build the Spruce Kings Show Home.
The year before that, in June 2015, the city renamed Fort George Park as Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park in recognition of the original site of the Lheidli T'enneh village, which was destroyed in a 1913 fire set to ensure the sale and relocation of the First Nation reserve.
Service clubs have also left their stamp on city facilities with the Kin Centre and Elksentre arenas and Rotary Youth Soccer Fields symbolizing the fundraising efforts which led to their development. Masich Place Stadium was named after Tom Masich and his decades of work in developing track and field in the city.
But until Monday's city council meeting, there was no official policy in place to guide city staff and council through the protocol of marketing naming rights for civic facilities.
The policies unveiled at a recent city council meeting by Rob Van Adrichem, the city's director of external relations, in consultation with city manager Kathleen Soltis, clarify the roles of city staff and council involved in making decisions on naming city-owned buildings, parks and bridges. The policies also identify the reasons for offering naming rights and other factors staff should consider when deciding on a financial sponsor.
"It's an expensive thing to operate all these facilities and natural areas as well and that's the Number 1 principle in the naming policy, that we see this an opportunity to recoup some of those costs," said Van Adrichem. "And at the same time it allows us to work potentially in collaboration with a business or organization that sees the marketing value of being associated with us."
Using guidelines already in place in Calgary, Vancouver and Fort St. John, city administration produced two policies, one on commemorative naming and the other on naming rights, which grant council the authority to approve or remove naming arrangements.
The policies apply to facilities that already exist or are being planned, as well as bridges and parks. They do not apply to subdivisions, neighbourhoods, streets or trails. City Hall, the fire halls and RCMP stations are not eligible for naming opportunities.
While financial gain is an obvious motivator to sell naming rights, Van Adrichem said the city should also consider the legacies of prominent figures or groups whose footprints have been left in the city and the value of adding their names to civic facilities to establish the community culture.
"Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park is the best example of that," Van Adrichem said.
Van Adrichem reassured Coun. Brian Skakun that the policy provides transparency to allow third-party involvement which will help the city find the most lucrative naming bid.
