City council to consider recommendation to sell naming rights to 26 facilities

The city says selling the naming rights to some of its facilities could generate some much-needed income.

Edmonton city council is expected to debate selling naming rights to city facilities when it meets next week.

The city’s Community and Public Services Committee is recommending to council that it approve an exemption to a policy to allow administration to seek proposals to sell naming rights to existing facilities.

In a report to council filed Monday, administration said the city could expect an estimated $21 million over 10 years in the sale of the naming rights to 26 facilities.

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The report recommending selling naming rights to facilities “is part of a broader look at steps that (the) city can take to help close our fiscal gap,” said Ashley Salvador, the councillor for Ward Métis in east-central Edmonton.

She told CTV News Edmonton on Monday she and several colleagues have concerns over selling the rights that are centred around identity and value.

“These types of facilities are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they cost substantial amounts to run and operate,” Salvador said. “The owners of those facilities are Edmontonians, and it worries me that when we start to look at the sale of naming rights, that we lose that.

“It’s about civic pride, civic identity, and when we start to contemplate taking that away, I think there’s a value lost for Edmontonians.”

Salvador said she feels the dollar value of the potential sale – a little more than $2 million per year for 26 facilities – is “not a substantial amount.”

“People deserve to see their tax dollars at work and to see the amazing assets and facilities that we have in our neighbourhoods and communities represented as city assets,” she said.

Keren Tang, the councillor for Ward Karhiio in the southeastern corner of the city, said the idea of selling naming rights “is worth exploring” given the city’s fiscal gap but also expressed concern Monday for the erosion of “brand recognition for the City of Edmonton because we have a very strong brand as well.”

“Do people know that it’s their taxpayers’ dollars building this rec centre, providing the services, not some private company but the City of Edmonton?” Tang told CTV News Edmonton. “Are we going to erode that kind of trust and confidence in our brand?

“For me, I know of some of the facilities in my ward that have actually been built by volunteers, by community members. What role are they going to have? What role is the general public going to have?”

One major city facility – the Booster Juice Recreation Centre, formerly Terwillegar Community Recreation Centre – has already had its naming rights sold while two other rec centres – Clareview and The Meadows – are in the process of having them peddled away.

The other 26 city facilities under consideration to have their naming rights sold are:

• Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre
• Kinsmen Sports Centre
• Coronation Park Sports and Recreation Centre/Velodrome
• ACT Aquatic and Recreation Centre
• Londonderry Fitness & Leisure Centre
• Mill Woods Recreation Centre
• Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre
• Confederation Leisure Centre
• Eastglen Leisure Centre
• Grand Trunk Fitness & Leisure Centre
• Hardisty Leisure Centre
• Jasper Place Leisure Centre
• O’Leary Leisure Centre
• Callingwood Twin Arena
• Castledowns Twin Arena
• Crestwood Arena
• Donnan Arena
• Glengarry Arena
• Kenilworth Arena
• Kinsmen Twin Arena
• Tipton Arena
• Westwood Arena
• Borden Park Outdoor Pool
• Mill Creek Outdoor Pool
• The Orange Hub
• Commonwealth Stadium

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson