The group that's behind the campaign of building a multi-use complex in Chatham say they're disappointed with the direction the municipality is taking when it comes to arena decision-making.
A report will be going to council Monday night that will kickstart the decision of whether to go ahead with a new arena project in Chatham.
The report shows that municipal staff members are recommending replacing Chatham Memorial Arena and Erickson Arena with a twin-pad arena complex and an indoor multi-sport community centre.
However, Nathan Trudell, creator of Build the Complex CK, believes several key aspects were left out of the report.
Build the Complex CK is a local group that, for the past several months, has been advocating for the building of a state-of-the-art multi-use sports and entertainment complex.
The report did mention a 4,000 seat multi-use complex as an option, however, it states that it would come with a hefty price tag of around $85.9 million and an increase in net annual costs of $1.18 million.
Trudell argues that the report was all based on estimation and failed to mention one of the key points of building a large multi-use complex that the municipality won't get with the other options -- the economic spinoff.
"The most important factor of all is what economic impact does this type of facility have on your community. They're not going to make money, they're never meant to make money, they're an investment into the community," he said.
According to the report, one of the biggest challenges would be booking events for a large complex and the operating costs would come down to how many events are held per year and the facility. It estimates that 82 events a year would need to be held at the complex to break even. The report also raises the issue of a facility located in Chatham-Kent being having to compete for events with places like the WFCU Centre and Caesars Colosseum in Windsor as well as Budweiser Gardens in London.
"Chatham-Kent would be in direct competition with those venues because of the aforementioned exclusivity clause. Additionally, to secure these artists, the performance fee to play in Chatham-Kent would likely be higher than the typical asking rate to address a risk of revenue shortfall due to a smaller gate," the report states. "Presently, the Capitol Theatre loses several artists per year due to these conditions."
Trudell, who has a background in the marketing industry, challenges this and said he believes the report didn't go deep enough into the research of booking talent. He also said he believes there are plenty of opportunities for booking events, the municipality would just have to be willing to put in some extra work.
"There's thousands of other opportunities out there, you just have to go and find them. You have to do the research, you have to look at the schedule," Trudell said. "You have to know what you're looking for to be able to fill those holes. You can't expect them to just come to you and [the report] doesn't mention that. It's not limited to just music, you have sporting events, you can host tournaments, championship events, exhibitions, public assemblies, ceremonial events. There's so many things that go on."
He added that by not having an entertainment complex in the area, it leaves a space open in the market.
"Why do you think Caesars advertise on a great big billboard almost right across from my house? They do it for a reason, they advertise on Park Avenue for a reason," he said. "Because they know there's a huge market here in Chatham-Kent for entertainment purposes because they know that we don't have any."
In an arena development survey that was open to residents of Chatham-Kent, respondents were given five options to chose from for the question 'What size arena would you like the municipality to proceed with?' and provided with the estimated costs. A $65 million "twin-pad facility with a 4,000 spectator capacity to potentially accommodate major events" got the highest number of votes at 34 per cent.
Trudell said he believes that staff might have chosen against recommending a multi-use arena as a way for them to not attach their names to such a large, costly project that might face some criticisms. He used the Chatham Capitol Theatre as an example.
"The city kind of ran away from it too fast instead of sticking with it and now that they have it back in their hands and they actually took the time to find out what they needed to do with it, the place is actually doing very well...But the problem is when you mention the name 'Capitol Theatre' people still have such a negative take on everything that happened, "said Trudell. "Sometimes when you take big risks, some people are afraid to have their name on it because they're sticking their neck out and if something doesn't go right, there's a negative factor involved in that."
Trudell said he plans to speak at council Monday night to address some of his concerns.