A report by city staff to be presented tonight recommends council approve plans to demolish Kin 1 arena and rebuild an Olympic-sized rink in time for the 2015 Canada Winter Games, instead of building another free-standing rink.
While that won't alleviate concerns of the city's two largest arena user groups -- the Prince George Minor Hockey Association (PGMHA) and Prince George Rec Hockey League (PGRHL) -- whose leagues are filled to capacity due to the limits of available ice time, the report suggests that for the city to revisit plans for the project would require an additional $105,000 for a cost-comparison study, funded by taxpayers.
PGRHL administrator Al Hines wants a Kin 4 arena built to reduce the ice-time crunch, rather than going ahead with the Kin 1 renovation.
"If you're going to spend $16 million, why not end up with something that's better than what we have," said Hines. "Granted, the idea for Kin 1 will be a great improvement, but we won't end up with an extra ice surface and there will not be the money for the foreseeable future to build another arena.
"City staff have said they are running arenas at 100 per cent capacity during primetime and 90 per cent during non-primetime hours when the ice is in. There's absolutely no opportunity for anybody to grow their sport."
Hines said the rec league has had to cut its novice program due to a lack of ice time, and with the increasing popularity of female hockey, the same problem exists in minor hockey.
"We have wait lists in every division, basically, so we can't expand," said Alec Hartney, the PGMHA vice-president.
The reconfiguration of Kin 1 would begin in the spring of 2012 with a $180,000 demolition project and renovations would be complete by October 2013. The rink would be out of commission during that time, leaving five other rinks to serve the city. The report says there will be schedule changes, but little disruption for user groups during that year, and no less of revenue to the city.
To meet Canada Games Council approval, the new rink must have an Olympic-sized (200-foot X 100-foot) ice surface with a seating capacity of between 700 and 1,000. The staff report estimates the cost of a stand-alone rink would exceed the $16.6 million it cost in 2008 to build a 250-seat short-track speed skating arena in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. City arenas manager Andy Beesley estimates a new rink would cost between $6 million and $10 million more than the projected $16.5 million cost to renovate Kin 1.
For a new free-standing rink, changes would be needed to council's Exhibition Park Master Plan, which would require the work of an architect and a surveyor. The revised plan would cost $105,000 and would not be ready for council until the summer of 2012. Construction on the new building would be finished in December 2014, just two months before the Games in February 2015. Hines said it costs $2.2 million per year to operate five rinks -- the Kin Centre, Elksentre and Coliseum -- of which $1 million is subsidized by the city. The report says an additional rink would add $200,000 to the city's annual operational costs.
The federal and provincial governments will each contribute $3 million to pay for the Kin Centre Complex capital plan and other civic facility upgrades. The other 65 per cent of the capital costs, amounting to $11,107,100 will be funded by city taxpayers.
On March 1, council approved a two per cent tax levy in effect for the next five years that will provide $1.3 million annually to help pay the cost of capital projects. The city will require an additional $773,000 per year from 2012 to 2015 to cover capital costs and will seek additional funding from other municipalities, private sources, taxpayers and government grants.
Colleen Van Mook, the city's director of community services, who prepared the Kin Centre Complex Capital Plan report, declined comment until after it is presented to council tonight.
