Future of Penticton Arenas

The Arena Task Force provided an update to Council on April 4. Here are the highlights from that update. You can read the full report in the Documents Library.

Arena Task Force Council Update Highlights

• The Task Force achieved its first milestone confirming that Penticton needs four arenas in order to provide existing services and programs to the community.
• These findings are based on a review of the Arena Needs Analysis (2016) that showed Penticton arenas are at or near capacity for prime-time use during the regular season and that bookings have increased 7.63% between 2013 and 2015.
• The analysis also showed that the closure of Memorial or McLaren Arenas could result in a need to re-allocate up to 80 hours of ice per week into our other facilities which is not possible with the current level of programming and services booked into the other three facilities.

• In response to questions from the user groups and the community, the Task Force also reviewed commercial use of municipal arenas by the Okanagan Hockey Group (OHG).
• This analysis showed that OHG books approximately 35% of total ice usage in Penticton’s four arenas (4,561.5 hours).
• Out of that 35%, approximately 87% are non-prime hours and only 13% prime-time. (Prime is defined as after 4 pm on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday.)
• The review also showed that OHG pays a commercial rate for both its prime time and non-prime time bookings.
• Without OHG, the City would only gain an average of 8-10 hours per week of prime time ice.
• Due to the high booking of non-prime surface time when most arenas sit empty, the presence of the Okanagan Hockey Group is an important source of revenue for Penticton’s arenas.
• The Task Force also explored the opportunity to use more time in the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC).
• As the SOEC hosts a wide variety of events in the evening and can only confirm bookings 60 days out, the facility can’t reliably meet the needs of the user groups during the prime time demand.
• The SOEC is still a significant source of surface time and currently books approximately 1,700 hours per year.
• The Arena Task Force is now looking for more detailed information about costs to help narrow down the options for Penticton arenas and outlined the need for two additional studies.

The Arena Task Force has achieved an important milestone confirming Penticton needs at least as many arenas as there are currently in order to provide existing services and programs to the community. The milestone was shared as part of an update to Council at the April 4 meeting. The Task Force based their findings on a review of the Arena Needs Analysis prepared by GDH Solutions in June 2016 that looked at the ice and dry floor usage in the existing four arenas including projected future demand. The Arena Needs Analysis concluded that Penticton arenas are at or near capacity for prime-time use during the regular season and that bookings have increased 7.63% between 2013 and 2015.

Commercial use of Penticton arenas

In addition to reviewing the Arena Needs Analysis, the Task Force also asked for more information on use of community ice by the Okanagan Hockey Group (OHG). The results of this analysis showed that OHG accounts for 35% of Penticton’s bookings and that 87% of the 4,500 hours they book are during non-prime hours. The analysis also showed that OHG pays higher ice rental rates than any other commercial, private or minor sports organization and that in 2017, OHG anticipates it will pay over $535,000 in ice rental fees for non-prime time use.

Use of South Okanagan Events Centre

Another area explored by the Task Force was the opportunity to optimize the use of the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC). Because the SOEC hosts a wide variety of events in the evening and can only confirm bookings 60 days out, it can’t reliably meet the needs of the user groups during the prime time demand. As a result, the SOEC can only book approximately 1,700 hours of surface time.

You can read the full report in the Council Reports section in the Document Library on this site.

The Arena Task Force is looking for more detailed information about costs to help narrow down the options for Penticton arenas.The Task Force outlined the need for two additional studies at the Council meeting on April 4, 2017. The first will provide a more detailed analysis of the requirements and costs to repair Memorial and McLaren Arenas. This study will be performed by the same team of architects, sub-consultants and engineers that completed the original analysis in the Facilities Master Plan in 2013 plus a new structural engineering consultant. The second will analyse the requirements and costs to build a new arena. Once the studies are completed, the results will be shared and residents will have the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions for the recommendation.

1. Memorial and McLaren Assessment

A team of architects, engineers and cost consultants have been engaged to provide a more detailed analysis of Memorial and McLaren arenas. The analysis will build on the 2013 cost estimates, by applying detailed architectural and engineering solutions for both base building and functional upgrades. The report will offer greater accuracy in the cost estimates and provide 5, 10 and 20+ year investment options complete with conceptual drawings and life cycle costing analysis to determine how each improvement will extend the life of the asset. It will also include an analysis of operational impacts associated with the upgrade options.

2. Arena Feasibility Study

A Request for Proposal will be posted on April 5 to engage a consultant team to conduct a separate study on options to build a new arena on the SOEC site. The assessment will include conceptual drawings and costing information and will be based on a standard programming for a fully functional, multi-use arena facility. Building on the LTA cost report from 2016, consultants will explore in more detail potential location options and building configuration. Each option will include analysis of site impacts such as traffic, parking, circulation, future expansion potential, and risks and opportunities to existing site amenities.

Today is the 62^Nd anniversary of the Vees triumph over Russia to win the 1955 World Championships. Memorial Arena was home to this historic team and part of their journey to the championship. The City has produced a video to provide more information about the condition of Memorial Arena and the work of the Penticton Arena Task Force. It’s a quick way to get up to speed on this important community issue. You can watch Penticton Arenas Tough Decisions Ahead and leave your feedback on shapeyourcitypenticton.ca/arenataskforce.

Sign up on the site to receive updates about the work of the Task Force directly and to learn more about opportunities to get involved as the work progresses.

The City is offering tours of Memorial Arena on Feb. 23 to share information about the history of the building and its current condition. Tours will be run between 10 am and 3 pm beginning on the hour every hour with the last tour at 2 pm. More tours will be added if there is interest. Email getconnected@penticton.ca.

As part of the second meeting of the arena task force, members toured the McLaren, Memorial, and South Okanagan Event Centre arenas to see the features and condition of the arenas first hand.

The membership of the task force was announced at the Dec. 20 Council meeting. As part of the announcement, Council increased the task force size to 14. Members include:

(6) User Group Representatives:

 Jamie Materi (Minor Hockey)

 Pam MacDonald (Dry Floor, Lacrosse)

 Trevor Buttenham (Glengarry Figure Skating)

 Mike Hopkin (Adult Hockey Leagues)

 Fred Harbinson (Penticton Vees)

 Andy Oakes (OHG)

(8) Community members:

 Stewart Ladyman

 Frank Regehr

 Bruce Millington

 Larry Lund

 Ryan Schulz

 Garth Astles

 Neil Jamieson

 Larry Kenyon

Council was able to review the applications earlier than expected. The task force will be announced at the December 20 Council Meeting.

The Dec. 6 deadline to submit your application to be part of the Penticton Arena Task Force has passed. Staff and Council will now review the submissions to identify the right mix of skills and experience to best represent the needs and interests of the community. The task force membership will be announced at a Council meeting in January.