Public has their say on proposed Brantford sports and entertainment complex

Residents in Brantford are weighing in on a proposed sports and entertainment complex (SEC) in the city.

A public input meeting was held Monday night at the Brantford Civic Centre.

The city initially considered 12 potential sites for a SEC but ultimately settled on 79 Market Street, next to the Civic Centre.

The project was launched, in part, due to the overwhelming community response to the Brantford Bulldogs partnership.

The Hamilton Bulldogs temporarily moved to the Civic Centre earlier this year while their arena undergoes renovations. The team, now called the Brantford Bulldogs, is playing at the Civic Centre for at least the next three years. As part of the deal, $7.5 million in renovations was done on the Civic Centre to ensure the arena met fan, player and OHL standards.

The city expects the Bulldogs partnership will have an annual economic impact of more than $4.5 million.

“We’re seeing real fan support across the city, the team is doing very well here in Brantford,” said Mayor Kevin Davis at Monday’s meeting. “There’s no question it’s having a positive impact on the surrounding area.”

The city is hoping to capitalize on that by enhancing the downtown area.

The area is being envisioned as “the cultural, entertainment and administrative heart of the city, a key shopping district and a destination for residents, students, tourists and businesses.”

The Civic Centre has 3,000 seats and room for 400 standing, while the proposed complex would have seating for 5,500.

The mayor said the facility could accommodate 90 events per year, with hockey matches making up a third of that. The city hopes it could also host basketball and lacrosse games, as well as trade shows.

Residents had a chance to find out more about the proposed plan at Monday night’s public meeting.

“I think the main concern has to do with the cost. Can we afford to construct the new sports and entertainment centre? They are very expensive to the build,” said Davis. “But there was also a lot of passion about how a centre like this could transform our city and have some really major positive impacts for our city. It was a really well balanced open house, heard lots of great views and some excellent questions.”

The cost of the proposed plan will be included in the Phase Three report which is expected to go to council in January.

Davis also responded to criticism that the money could be better spent elsewhere, and specifically, housing.

“We’re trying to create a very liveable city, which doesn’t mean you can’t do a number of things at one time. It’s not like you can only do housing and not anything else,” he said. “We’re trying to do a number of different projects, a number of different initiatives that we think will improve our city. Not only for hockey fans, but also those that have housing issues.”

The city is also asking residents to share their feedback in an online survey.