Businessman lobbies for facility.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE
• Position: Brief Article

A wealth of business opportunities for the city of Thunder Bay lies in the construction of a new multi-event facility, a local businessman says.

But in order to tap into that wealth, Dave Ferguson says the city needs to move forward on the idea immediately.

Ferguson is leading a private group of people in their fight to get the city to apply for some of the $300 million of the province's SuperBuild Growth Fund to help pay for a state-of-the-art arena and event centre.

Based on the economic impact these multi-event facilities have had in other Canadian cities - some smaller than Thunder Bay - it wouldn't be wise for Thunder Bay to pass up the opportunity to develop a similar facility, he adds.

In a letter sent to Ferguson from Gail Surkan, the mayor of Red Deer, Surkan states the community's 6000-seat Centrium, a multipurpose facility located in Westerner Park, an 115-acre integrated exhibition and trade park, has had "a very positive economic, social, recreational and cultural impact" on the community. Also, "a recent economic impact study determined that the Westerner Park operation, through its many events and programs, returns in excess of $70 million per year to the community."

Ferguson believes a similar facility in Thunder Bay could generate those same returns for the city, and that by tapping into the SuperBuild fund the community can get a $20-million multipurpose facility of its own at less cost to the city.

If the cost of the facility were absorbed by the municipal, provincial and federal governments at a contribution of $7 million each, the city could develop a $21-million event centre, he explains.

The land could be supplied by the city, and then some private funding could come in, he adds.

The Ontario SuperBuild Growth Fund, introduced in the province's 1999 budget, is a five-year, $20-billion initiative aimed at improving the province's...