All that talk about the City of St. John’s turning over management of Mile One Centre to a third party has proven to be just that.
Talk.
Earlier today, the city issued a news release suggesting it is ending discussion with the ownership groups of the St. John’s Edge and Newfoundland Growlers about them jointly assuming management of Mile One Centre and the St. John’s Convention Centre.
Such a possibility had been outlined in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last spring. The MOU was part of an agreement to bring hockey’s Growlers into Mile One as an ECHL expansion team and to share tenancy of the building with the Edge, which was preparing for its second season in the National Basketball League of Canada.
Today’s news release, issued jointly with St. John’s Sports and Entertainment Limited (SJSEL), the city-appointed board that now oversees the operations of Mile One, said a management proposal was presented last Thursday but did not meet the requirements set down by the SJSEL board last spring.
According to the city, the major concern is that the proposal suggests no change in the operating subsidy which the city provides SJSEL, “with the subsidy to remain at 2018 levels, including capital, for the upcoming year.”
The amount of that operating deficit was not revealed, but is believed to be $1.5 million to $2 million annually.
The city and SJSE did allow a “third-party management agreement can provide an opportunity to attract more events and entertainment to the facilities, bring an economic boost to our downtown business community and hospitality industry and reduce the burden on city taxpayers to support operations at the facilities in the form of a grant, or subsidy.”
However, the release went on to speak about the city’s responsibility to taxpayers and of the timeline leading up to the formal management proposal from Atlantic Sports and Entertainment (ASE), which owns the Edge, and Deacon Investments, which owns the Growlers.
The original deadline for the proposal was for June 12, with the idea that a management takeover could begin June 30. However, it was pushed ahead to this month because the Growlers were occupied with their march to the ECHL Kelly Cup championship, which stretched into June.
While talks about the Growlers and Edge jointly operating Mile One, or even purchasing the building — something else that had been discussed — have apparently ended, the city said it has informed the teams that it is still open to negotiating long-term lease agreements with both of them.
The release concluded by saying the city/SJSEL will continue to review operations to determine whether or not third-party management is in their best interests. That’s something that’s been underway for some time. Last November, the city revealed it had engaged a consulting/auditing firm (KPMG) to, as Mayor Danny Breen stated, “assist us in looking at different management models,” for Mile One.
