An update from Arena Board Chair Brooke Biscoe
January 18, 2012
Last night Toronto City Council approved the Leaside
Arena Expansion Project as part of the 2012 city budget. The
$12.5 million project includes a $7.5 million loan from the
city and a $1.5 million loan from the province against
future operating revenues, $1 million from the city in
accelerated capital improvements, and $2.5 million raised by
the local community.
As you know we
undertook to have met this local fundraising target by the
time city council voted on the budget. And I am
pleased to say that we succeeded! Yesterday
Expansion Committee Chair Paul Mercer and Fundraising
Committee Chair Charlene Kalia confirmed that the $2.5
million cash-in-hand local fundraising target "to get a
shovel in the ground" was achieved on Monday and that this
information was formally passed on to city officials.
Meeting our community fundraising goal represents a huge
achievement and I want to thank all those who have been a
part of making it happen. To Paul and Charlene and the
members of the fundraising committee who have worked so hard
for the past eighteen months, to the families and volunteers
associated with our three main user groups the LHA, LSC and
TLGHA, and to all those local businesses, families and
individuals who have contributed financially to this effort,
I extend a big and heart-felt 'Thank You!' This is a
community achievement and we couldn't have done it without
everyone working together. It doesn't mean that our
fundraising efforts are finished.
We
will still need to raise funds to finance aspects of the
project that are not part of the tender and will provide
more information on this later. In this regard, I encourage
you to attend "Laugh
out Loud in Leaside -- Act Three". This event has been
a great success the past two years and promises to be
another enjoyable evening of good food and drink, comedy and
music, with great silent auction items. A flyer for the
event is attached.
I would also like to thank
Councillor John Parker for all his hard work behind the
scenes in bringing the various city departments together
when required and in guiding the project through the
approvals process at City Hall. We can now focus on getting
the project out to tender, awarding the contract and
beginning the construction phase as quickly as possible.
So, while there is still a lot of work ahead of us, I
want to again emphasize that yesterday represents a huge
achievement on the part of the Leaside community and a major
milestone in the long process of getting our second rink at
Leaside Gardens. As Paul Mercer said, "January 17th is a
day worth remembering!
Congratulations to all
board and committee members. And a big 'thank you' to the
over 900 individuals and corporations that have made a
financial contribution."
Thank you for your continuing support!
Brooke Biscoe Arena Board Chair
Leaside Memorial Community Gardens
33rd Annual March Madness Tournament
March 9th - 11th, 2012
Open to ALL Rep Divisions, DS Team Divisions and House
League Teams = NEW THIS YEAR = Rep Divisions 4 Game Minimum Guaranteed
with Bronze Medal Games! DS Divisions with 3 Game Minimum
Guaranteed! House League Divisions with 3 Game Minimum
Guaranteed!
