Leeway from Lloyd: Puck palace a bargain in time?

STAFF WRITER GEOFF LEE

The City of Lloydminster will get to build its proposed Lloydminster Place event arena.

Council met Monday to approve the project at a reduced cost of $93.9 million from the previously-proposed $102 million price tag.

The decision follows the news Saskatchewan and the federal government have kicked in more than $33 million from the Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) with the city putting in $16M plus to secure the funding.

The governments of Canada and Saskatchewan signed a bilateral agreement in 2018 for investing in ICIP. The program will provide more than $900 million in federal funding for all types of Saskatchewan infrastructure projects.

Council approved administration to borrow $33M and additional project funding from fundraising, grants, government partners and other sources will result in a lower borrowing amount.

The city doesn’t have to borrow the whole amount at once either, so interest rates might decline from their current highs as inflation begins to wane.

It’s annoying that Alberta has not contributed a dime, yet that province is funding a new dialysis unit on the Saskatchewan side of our city, for example.

Funding may be forthcoming says our Mayor Gerald Aalbers following the May 29 Alberta general election.

Regardless, it’s safe to say the arena will become a major economic generator with the demand for associated local hotels and restaurants.

It should also increase attendance at the nearby Gold Horse casino.

With the arena seating about 2,500 people, it will be a draw for tournaments, which bring a lot of families to the city to spend money.

Despite many project critics, Aalbers and council can’t be faulted for trying to make the city a better place.

Remember, we just came out of a pandemic and a recession and this project will give the construction industry a major boost locally.

It’s easy to find naysayers, but once the arena is built most people will probably brag about it and as time goes on it will seem like