Thunder Bay event centre: Council not giving up yet
Mayor Keith Hobbs suggests university team could be anchor tenant
Thunder Bay will look for ways to make the proposed $114-million event centre eligible for federal funding.
Council voted Monday for city administration to report back in two months with ways to save the project, which was shelved last month after Ottawa advised that the federal gas tax could not be used to fund a project that is meant to have a professional AHL team as its main tenant.
The city had hoped for $23 million from the federal government.
"I think it would be very unfair, not only to city council, administration, but to the community as a whole if we didn't explore every option to get back in the game," Mayor Keith Hobbs said.
Hobbs wants to know if the proposal can be tweaked to get federal approval, and a majority of councillors in attendance agreed with him.
The mayor floated the idea that the Lakehead University Thunderwolves could be the anchor tenant.
Hobbs said before the meeting that he's looking for viable alternatives to the rejected plan because a new event centre will be critical to further economic development in the city.
Coun.Trevor Giertuga said there's nothing to fear about looking into ways to get federal funding for the proposed event centre.
"We're not going to build anything tonight," he said. "We're just saying, 'Come back, the initial one isn't going to be appropriate, can you bring us something back that may be appropriate?'"
3 councillors opposed
Coun. Linda Rydholm, who voted against the referral, said she still hasn't heard any solution beyond using the gas tax. She said use of convention centres is declining across North America, and the facility would be competing with existing venues in town.
Rydholm also renewed her call for a plebiscite on the issue.
In the end, only she, Larry Hebert and Frank Pullia voted against Hobbs's motion to get a report from city staff.
Councillors Rebecca Johnson, Brian McKinnon and Aldo Ruberto were absent.