Latest news with #arena
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Newspaper seeks public release of Centennial Park feasibility study
Niagara Falls City Council Chairman Jim Perry has talked with Mayor Robert Restaino about the unreleased feasibility study for the proposed Centennial Park arena and events campus and said he's encouraged by what he's been told about it so far. In response to questions from the Niagara Gazette on Thursday, Perry did not say whether he would support releasing the study to the public in response to a Freedom of Information Law request filed by the newspaper. Instead, Perry said he spoke to city attorney Tom DeBoy who acknowledged receipt of the newspaper's formal request for the document and was assured that the city's legal department is working on it. 'I'm not part of that process, but (DeBoy) assured me it's being done,' Perry said on Thursday. Restaino confirmed in an interview with the members of the local press on May 13 that he received what he described as an incomplete version of the study, which was prepared by the private Florida-based consulting firm Sports Facilities Advisory, LLC at a cost of $140,000, plus expenses. While he has since indicated that the study results support the city building Centennial Park, he has declined to release the contents publicly. In an interview with the Gazette earlier this week, Restaino said he intends to do so by the end of the month after the results are shared with 'stakeholders,' namely representatives from New York's lead economy development agency Empire State Development Corp. and National Grid, the two entities that covered the city's cost for the study. 'One of the things we will do is meet with the stakeholders who paid for the study and show it to them,' Restaino told the Gazette in an interview earlier this week. 'And then we'll release it to the public. This month everything is going to be out in the open.' During an appearance on Monday on 'Your Community Accountability with Sam and Jon,' a Falls-based social media program aired on Facebook and YouTube, Perry said he has had a 'lot of discussions about it' and that it 'looks positive.' On Thursday, Perry told the newspaper he hadn't seen the study but had talked to the mayor about it. 'I can't share everything because this will be up to the mayor to unveil, but this project should be one of the more positive advancements to our local economy I've seen in my 70-plus years here in the city if everything falls into place,' Perry said. On Thursday, the newspaper filed a formal Freedom of Information request with the city's legal department and clerk's office, requesting a copy of the study from Restaino's administration. The newspaper's request cited two opinions from the New York State Committee on Open Government that indicate state law allows public agencies to release documents in their possession even in instances where they are considered to be drafts or incomplete. 'Draft records are subject to FOIL,' said Paul Wolf, a Williamsville attorney and founder of the government transparency group, the New York Coalition for Open Government. The city clerk's office acknowledged the newspaper's request on Thursday afternoon. Under state law, public agencies are allowed up to 20 business days to either grant or deny requests for information. In its initial response, the city clerk's office indicated that should 'circumstances arise' that prevent the delivery of a response within 20 business, the newspaper would be contacted with a 'new response date.' 'Examples of circumstances that may lead to extended response times include staff shortages, requests for a large volume of records and requests that require significant document redaction and/or seek documents that are not maintained electronically,' the response from the clerk's office notes. The results of the feasibility study are expected to more clearly define elements of the Centennial Park project and shed light on whether it would, as proposed, be viable in the Falls. A previous arena study, commissioned by Niagara County in 2017, concluded that the city lacked a sufficient number of hotel rooms needed to support such a project at that time. City officials, including Restaino and Perry, are seeking to acquire, using the city's power of eminent domain, 10 acres of land currently owned by the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment for the purposes of building Centennial Park. The courts have sided with the city's argument that it has the right to forcibly acquire the property — located off John B. Daly Boulevard at the intersection of 10th and Falls streets — for the purposes of developing the 'park.' The city is currently engaged in litigation, arguing that 5 of those 10 acres are actually still owned by the city as NFR failed, more than a decade ago, to properly obtain permission from the state to annex what was at the time public parkland formerly known as 10th Street park. NFR is disputing the city's position in court. The company also insists it intends to use the 10 acres for the first phase of a project of its own, a proposed $1.5 billion data center it says it intends to build in partnership with the Canadian firm, Urbacon. During his interview on Sam Archie's social media program on Monday, Perry backed the city's position that the city, not NFR, owns the 5 acres because it was formerly public parkland that was never properly acquired by the company. He said he agrees with the city's position based on maps and other documents that show the area in question was a public park dating back to the 1940s. 'A park is a park forever until you get that it is no longer parkland by permission from the state,' he said. 'When it was transferred over, those papers were never filed,' he added. 'You can argue all you want, that is still a park. Unless it's done legally, there is no claim to it.' As to NFR — a company owned by the Milstein family of real estate developers in New York City — Perry said the city has heard 30 years of promises and stories from the company with no tangible results. He also said there 'is no two solutions,' a reference to what some residents and officials have suggested could be a compromise that would allow both projects to happen. 'The convention center is real,' Perry said, referring to Centennial Park, 'and I know that because I've been working on issues and I've been talking to people. The data center, to me, is another pie in the sky.' 'If we gave this fight up tomorrow, (and said), 'OK, you guys can have the park, we'll do the paperwork and turn it over to you.' Let them have it, turn it over to NFR, all the stuff, you know what's going to happen? They are going to say, 'Well, you took so long Urbacon's not interested in it anymore' because that's the M.O.' Perry did concede in his interview with show host Sam Archie that, if the city is successful in its claim for the 5 acres, it may be required to reimburse NFR for taxes paid on the property in the past. 'I would assume that is correct,' Perry said.
Fast Company
4 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Innovation Illuminated: How the Intuit Dome Makes Everyone Feel Like VIP
The Intuit Dome opened last year in Los Angeles, setting a new standard for arenas with a number of staggering features including 86,000 square feet of training facilities, 300 charging stations for electric vehicles, underground suites, and a double-sided display board that stretches almost a full acre. Gillian Zucker, CEO of Halo Sports and Entertainment, takes you behind the scenes of the Intuit Dome, highlighting her mission to make everyone feel like VIP.
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Pie in the sky': Critics question Surrey mayor's plan for 10,000-seat area
Critics are raising concerns about Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke's plans for a 10,000-seat arena in the city's downtown core, arguing residents' tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere. Plans for the 'world-class' facility were highlighted in Locke's State of the City address last month, when the mayor pitched the arena as a cornerstone of a new entertainment district for Surrey. Coun. Pardeep Kooner, from Locke's Surrey Connect party, said it's time the city had an area akin to Vancouver's bustling Granville Street. 'The property taxes that would come in from those businesses would be huge for the city,' Kooner told CTV News. But not everyone is sold on the idea. Surrey First Coun. Linda Annis said there are more pressing issues for elected representatives to address, and questioned the viability of the project. 'It's just pie in the sky,' Annis said. 'We don't have funding in place. Over the next five years, we've got $4 million only set aside, and we don't have an anchor tenant. I think we need to be investing in more recreation centres rather than projects like this.' Surrey has not provided a cost estimate for the arena, but Annis estimated it would be well over half a billion dollars. 'When you look at the cost of the Newton Rec Centre, which is going to be over $300 million, it would be safe to say that a 10,000-seat arena would be at least twice that,' she said. The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation agreed the funding would be better spent on smaller community projects, such as parks and playgrounds. 'Every dollar that goes toward this stadium is a dollar that's not going toward essentials for taxpayers. It's money that's not going toward cutting taxes to make life more affordable,' said Carson Binda, the CTF's B.C. director. Kooner noted that the city is asking for provincial and federal funding, as well as corporate sponsorships, to help deliver the project without the need for a property tax increase for residents. 'There is no way we want this stadium to affect people's property tax bill,' she added. There has also been tension between Surrey and the B.C. government since Locke took office, with a protracted battle over the city's policing transition ending on bitter terms. Surrey Connect expects to have an update on the feasibility of the arena by the end of 2025.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
No world-class swimming pool in Hong Kong any time soon
A new swimming arena capable of hosting world-class competition was unlikely to be built in Hong Kong any time soon, sources have told the Post, with officials deciding there was no room for a pool near Kai Tak Sports Park. Sung Wong Toi Park, a thin strip of land sandwiched between two major roads in Kowloon, had reportedly been considered for the project, but was later deemed 'not big enough' for an Olympic-sized facility. A government source said while they could build something there 'for what we wish to have, we are not entirely sure we can fit everything – spectator stands and other facilities – in it'. The source added: 'We couldn't quite visualise it happening there for now; maybe we could try squeezing everything in, but there's no conclusion yet.' Hong Kong's leader John Lee Ka-chiu had mentioned the construction of a new pool in each of his past two policy addresses, after local swimming star Siobhan Haughey amassed four medals – two silver and two bronze – at the past two Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris. Siobhan Haughey in action during swimming world championships qualification in Hong Kong. Photo: Edmond SO Despite the fact that a location had not yet been identified, the source confirmed that a new swimming arena remained a priority for the government.
