PMC Issue fact or fiction!!!

As a Peterborough Laker Fan and a City of Peterborough tax payer this whole issue right now about the PMC floor repairs is very concerning to me. Not only does the fate of the Lakers home season next year stand in the balance but also the fate of 100's of minor lacrosse players and other events and uses for the PMC during the time period in question of June till possibly November of 2019. Its not just a question of the ticket and sponsorship revenue I am concerned about which as a fan I obviously am but also the $3.5 million price tag attached to this repair by the city.

What concerns me the most about this situation is the very confusing and mixed stories that are coming out about the reports and version of what is happening. So as a concerned citizen I emailed both the Mayor and the two councilors in my ward being Henry Clark and Don Vassiliadis. I will put my initial email and there responses to the email and you can read for yourself the variations in the  of the issues. And the versions that we have heard in the media.

My Email.


 Good Afternoon, As a concerned taxpayer and yes a Lakers Fan. I feel
you really need to get a second opinion on the structural integrity of
the PMC floor before spending 3.5 million dollars of our tax dollars.
Not only because its a lot of money and you will be messing up the
Lakers fan base for an entire season. But also its all the minor league
players that will be displaced both lacrosse and hockey in the fall and
with no extra floor or ice space in the city to replace this facility
during its down time that is a huge void that won't be filled. I hope in
your plans for the new facility at Trent University you have included a
fair amount of seating on at least one of the ice services much like
they have at the Cobourg Community Centre.
> 
> A Concerned taxpayer and voter
> 
> Rob Rutherford


The Mayors Response:

Rob

That would be a forth or fifth opinion on the building condition,I am sending some information to try and establish some of our reasoning.

I have assured everyone who has asked ,we would not be spending any money unless it was absolutely necessary.

The Memorial Centre is not scheduled to be demolished nor has any decision been made to decommission the building. A new Major Event and Sport Facility would cost $80 million to $100 million, according to early estimates. That study is underway. No decision has been made. If the community decided to build a new facility, it would take an estimated eight years for consultation, planning, design and construction for that substantial facility. We would need the Memorial Centre to last at least until we have a new facility. The community could also decide to re-purpose the Memorial Centre for other types of uses as a community facility. That is part of the current facility review that's underway.

A facility review of the Mem Ctr was commissioned in 2009-2010,then the structural review in 2016 all being reviewed by our own maintenance/engineering staff.

The structural engineer commented that the south wall is a critical component of the overall ice rink and the rink slabs and it needs to be replaced as scheduled prior to winter 2021. The engineer also reported that the findings show that the deterioration has been progressing at an accelerated rate. Waiting until the very end of the expected viability of the floor would be risking failure of the structure before we can replace it - leading to a longer closure and a more costly emergency repair. The repairs are slated for next year, 2019. We have been discussing this with the major tenants for more than a year and it's another year until construction.All of the reports are available to the public and they have been discussed at open Council meetings.

It is far better to be pro active rather than reactive when you have the magnitude of potential safety issues surrounding this facility repair.

The Lakers and the Petes are the two major sports activities the Lakers play 9 home games the Petes 34. There are many other users of the facility.

On the Trent Arena site ,we are years away from completing that facility as we are working to obtain Federal and promised provincial funding.

We are all in this together and we are trying to accommodate as best we can all the community.

I appreciate your interest.

The City of Peterborough has a new toll free phone number: 1 855 738 3755

 Henry Clarke's Response:

Mr. Rutherford.  Thanks for speaking up on this important issue.   just so you know, the city actually obtained three opinions, but I know everyone for some reason thinks it was just one.   I’ve seen the photos of the east wall that is failing and it’s enough to make me very concerned.  Its crumbing, with concrete spalling off, and creating a situation where we could see a structural collapse.

We are working with all of our user group, Lakers, Petes, minor leagues, trying to find the least intrusive schedule that those at the table can agree to.  staff felt we had reached that point, having waited a full year at the request of the Lakers and petes, and proposed the schedule of 22 weeks downtime as the best of a bad situation.

I am sure we are all open to ideas that can help that as we can all see how the teams and fan base will be impacted.

Thanks again  h

Don Vassiliadas Response:

Rob,

Sorry for the delay of my reply. Thank you for your email. I am a season
ticket holder for the Lakers. I have met with the Lakers organization on
August 29th and I am willing to make or support a motion at Council to
get a second and third opinion for the repair work at the Memorial
Centre. Also, I’m willing to accommodate the Lakers in anyway to make
sure 2019 is a good season for them. Please let me know if you have any
questions.

Best regards,
Don 

So I just wanted to put these responses out there so that everyone knew something isn't adding up and I would hope that before making a 3.5 million dollar decision that the powers that be at city hall would be proactive and come up with a solution that will work for everyone involved.