Tuesday, December 6, 2011

City Council Approves New Spectator Facility

Press Release

At 10:30pm last night it was made official – the Niagara IceDogs are here to stay – as St. Catharines city council voted in favour of building a new spectator facility.

Mark Cherney (IBEW), John Bragagnolo (The Pen Centre), George Darte (George Darte Funeral Home), Kevin Legros (Local Sports Report) and Alex Digenis (Henley Honda) all spoke on behalf of the New Garden City Complex Advocacy Committee (GCCAC).

Also weighing in on the subject were Gord Smith, who spoke on behalf of the Citizens Against a New Arena (CANA) group, Jim Richardson (St. Catharines Female Hockey Association), and Mary Fyfe, a St. Catharines resident.

In the end, the council voted 9 to 3 in favour of building a new spectator facility with 4500 to 5300 seating capacity. The preferred site is still the lower-level parking lot in downtown St. Catharines, but was not confirmed. Construction is scheduled to start in June of 2012, with completion estimated in January 2014.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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