Rangers still exploring arena options
Posted Aug 30, 2011 05:13:17 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Kitchener Rangers continue to look at the possibility of expanding the Memorial Auditorium or working with the City to build a new arena for the hockey club.
At the team’s Annual General Meeting last night, Chief Operating Officer Steve Bienkowski re-traced the steps taken to date, including a proposal made to Kitchener council in June of 2010. That proposal suggested an expansion of the existing arena on East Avenue to a capacity of about 10,000 seats and at a cost of $44-million.
From the outset, the Rangers have insisted that any plan must have zero impact on Kitchener taxpayers.
Over the past 14 months, the Rangers have continued to work with BBB Architects and Ball Construction “to finalize a detailed proposal that will be viable from a construction point of view and have a business plan that supports the costs and minimizes the risks involved in meeting completion dates, final costs and the long term financial impact on our organization.”
Besides meeting the goal of not impacting Kitchener taxpayers, the Rangers also insist any proposal must provide increased opportunity for the community to attend games and does not put the short or long term future of the organization at risk.
The Rangers say conducting the due diligence required to meet these objectives is the reason they have not made public comment on the project in some time.
A report is due back to Kitchener council on September 26th.
Also of note with the Rangers, tickets for this season’s home games went on sale Monday morning at 10:00am. Click here for a link to the Rangers website for more information.
