Barrie city council considers $40M Sadlon Arena renovations
The wheels are in motion for significant changes to Barrie's Sadlon Arena.
"If you want this arena to last another 25 years, 30 years, you'll have to at some point upgrade it because it will not meet the needs of the community," said Tourism Barrie Executive Director Kathleen Trainor.
Tourism Barrie brought a report from a consulting firm to council, recommending upgrades to the arena, including additional seats, modern concessions, and an open grand entrance on the building's north side.
"For the city, it would be great. I mean bringing more events into the city has a huge economic impact when you can bring more events in," said Barrie Colts Co-Owner Jim Payetta.
"Because you can bring in more concerts, more trade shows. There is fixing of some of the ways you can move around the arena. You can't move around the arena because of the restaurant here," said Trainor.
The complete preferred revamping of the arena, which opened in 1996, would cost around $40 million, but some say that money would be back in the local economy after one or two events.
"Skate Canada had a large event in London. The economic impact was $42.5 million. It's significant," said Ward 7 Councillor Gary Harvey.
"Five-thousand-seat concerts are profitable," stated Trainor.
There is no timeline yet on how long the renovations would take, but with smaller cities hosting just as many events as Barrie, the Colts have been eyeing change for nearly a decade.
"We put forth the idea back in 2014 after bidding on the Memorial Cup and learning about why we didn't get it after our fourth attempt and the shortcomings of the building," said Payetta.
The city of Brantford recently told the Hamilton Bulldogs it would cost them $135 million to build them a new arena. That won't be happening in Barrie anytime soon.
"We did have that discussion, and when the consultant advised us of the cost nowadays, that made that decision very quick and easy," laughed Harvey.
The proposed renovations would also provide improved dressing rooms, video rooms, training rooms and a gym. The Colts believe they are at a competitive and recruiting disadvantage without them.
"You don't see what's down below that the players and training staff are dealing with. It's not even close to being up to current day standards," explained Harvey.
In their current situation, Colts players have to go off-site to workout, which is not common practice across the Ontario Hockey League.
This week the women's national hockey teams for Germany and Switzerland were hosted in Barrie, but the teams had to be stationed at different arenas because Sadlon did not have enough rooms for them to leave all of their equipment.
"We need proper facilities here at the rink. We don't have a gym here right now. We don't have proper training facilities right now, a video room, all those things are kind of requirements now these days," added Payetta.
The arena renovation capital project wouldn't affect taxpayers as the financing would come from revenue streams like reserves and grants.
Council also has decisions to make on other capital projects being considered, like community centres and a new theatre. Harvey said his priority goes to return on investment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.