The facility use and concessions deal for the Barrie Colts at Sadlon Arena has been extended for nine months.
By direct motion Wednesday night, city council approved the extension with the same terms and conditions for Horsepower Sports and Entertainment Group, the Colts’ ownership group, to continue using the city-owned facility on Bayview Drive in the south end.
Coun. Gary Harvey, who moved the motion, said the current agreement between the city and the Ontario Hockey League club for the use of the Sadlon Arena expires in June 2023.
“This extension allows for additional time for both parties to negotiate an agreement to bring forward for council’s consideration,” he said.
What this deal means in terms of dollars is unknown. City staff say the details of the agreement are confidential.
Coun. Jim Harris had a question at Wednesday’s council meeting nonetheless.
“As a (Barrie Colts) season ticket-holder, one thing I’ve noticed with concessions there is it’s cash only,” he said. “Would that be part of the discussion (on a new deal) that they could add a cashless operation?”
“This is just an extension of what the current (deal) is,” Mayor Alex Nuttall said of the direct motion. “Certainly, our public service (city staff ) has heard your question and can include that in any of the discussions and negotiations going forward and I would note that … the actual lease negotiations are part of a confidential motion.”
The extension does have to be acceptable to Barrie’s director of legal services and general manager of community and corporate services, the direct motion reads.
Sadlon Arena has also been in the news lately concerning its possible expansion. Earlier this year, councillors heard a presentation to possibly expand and upgrade Sadon Arena that includes six options, ranging in price from $12.3 million to $43.5 million, and increasing the seats from 4,200 now and adding 580 to 1,210 more.
Sierra Planning and Management's Jon Hack, who made the presentation and authored the report, noted it would be a large-scale investment, but one that would pay dividends to the local economy.
The six options include details on additional space for Sadlon Arena of 659 to 4,592 square metres, renovation space of 355 to 1,226 sq. m., team facilities, including dressing rooms, of 258 to 998 sq. m., and a new lobby and food court of 561 to 1,804 sq. m.
Only one of the six choices included multi-purpose space, of 1,753 sq. m., and it was the option with a $43.5-million price tag.
The preferred option has 5,410 seats, an addition of 4,592 sq. m., a renovation area of 1,226 sq. m., team facilities of 944 sq. m., a new lobby and food court of 1,305 sq. m., no multi-purpose facilities, and a $40.8-million bill.
The presentation came from an $85,000 consultant’s report, done by Sierra, to assess sport tourism’s needs and growth opportunities at Sadlon Arena.
But there’s no staff report on the expansion and no direction, as of yet, from council to produce one.
The former Barrie Molson Centre (BMC), now known as Sadlon Arena, was commissioned in 1995, but is still relatively modern. Larger events normally go to facilities that have 5,000 or 6,000 seats and with more modern facilities, although during a decade this might mean three or four national events such as the Memorial Cup and the Brier.
In August 2021, Barrie councillors looked at resizing Sadlon Arena. They approved a motion that city staff report back to them before completing and submitting a grant application for the Ontario Community Building Fund’s Capital Stream to expand the Bayview Drive facility.
At the time, the expansion would have involved a three-storey addition on the north side of the building, including a new grand entrance to the arena with additional multi-purpose/trade show space, ticket booths, concessions, a multi-use sports bar, additional office and retail space, possibly a new home for the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame, additional dressing rooms, player dining and lounge facilities, medical facilities, storage and meeting space, a media lounge and VIP lounge, a new sound system, an upgraded green room along with additional spectator seating to bring its total to about 5,000.
