Financial Risks

Should Council wish to proceed with offering curling at a City owned Arena, there will be additional costs associated with opening. These costs can come from requiring additional staff onsite, equipment, facility alterations, Personal Protective Equipment and enhanced cleaning.

There is a significant cost to setting up and operating a community Arena. It is unclear how much of these costs will be recovered as we do not have a clear indication of how many people would utilize the venue and how much revenue will be generated.

Under the current Provincial Stage 3 regulations, there is a limit of how many people can be in the facility and on the ice pad at any one time. Should the Ministry implement further restrictions, these numbers could decrease at any given time, which would significantly alter the potential revenues. Additionally, further restrictions could result in the complete closure of the facility. While having some form of rentals and/or programming at facilities will bring in revenue, the building will not be operating at full capacity or even normal rates for this time of year. For this reason, Council has consistently approved a gradual reopening at a limited number of facilities to try and mitigate the operating costs. Council should note that the cost to operate an Arena along with the additional COVID-19 related costs would far exceed the revenue generated from a reduced number of curling sheets.

Financial Matters:

There would be significant costs to set up and operate a curling rink within a City owned Arena. In addition, the difference in revenues between operating Roseland Curling Club and an Arena would be drastically reduced in 2020 due to the number of sheets of ice that can be operated (due to the size of the ice pad and requirement for physical distancing) as well as the length of a curling season. It is estimated that three sheets of ice would operate for approximately 18 weeks in an Arena for 2020 versus a regular 27-week season at Roseland operating six sheets of ice.

Consultations:

Valerie Clifford – Financial Planning Administrator, Recreation & Culture
Curling Ontario
Roseland Golf and Curling Club

Conclusion:

This report is in response to CQ 29-2020 which asked that Administration explore options for providing curling at a City of Windsor facility, and that this response be provided for the October 19, 2020 meeting of City Council.

Planning Act Matters:

N/A