ESTEVAN - The Centennial Cup score clock legacy project is moving forward.
Centennial Cup committee members Cory Prokop, Josh Biggs, Greg Hoffort and Jason Tatarnic attended the latest meeting of Estevan city council on June 21 to discuss the financial side of the project.
"The Centennial Cup requires you to submit legacy items that the Centennial Cup and Hockey Canada can leave with the City of Estevan. And it's not as easy as just the city picking something or the Bruins picking something. In this case, it was a four-party agreement between the Centennial Cup committee, the Estevan Bruins, the City of Estevan, because of their commitment to the cup, … and of course, the final sign-off comes from Hockey Canada. So, what they did approve was the upgrade of the score clock at Affinity Place. And recognizing that, a significant portion of the profits, should there be any, should go towards that," Hoffort reminded council members.
Council touched on why the committee decided to go with the score clock rather than the screen replacement. Councillor Shelly Veroba noted that it was brought to her attention that if the screen would have been replaced, Affinity Place wouldn't have the same clarity, because they don't have the same technology as TSN has. Biggs also pointed out the central piece worked better as a legacy project as it gives a better experience for everyone present at any game. Besides, it would take some extra expenses off the city in the near future.
"Just from a cost standpoint, we do know that the current scoreboard is going to be outdated at some point in the next five to 10 years likely, so there'd be another big ask capital-wise there of the city when that time comes," Biggs explained.
The committee members noted that while they don't have the final numbers for the profits made during the Centennial Cup, they were confident that they can allocate a $200,000 portion of it to go towards the score clock.
The sale of the current clock that another community is interested in purchasing will potentially bring $50,000. On top of that, Kingston Midstream provided a grant for another $70,000. Those resources together will cover a total of $320,000.
When the Centennial Cup committee initially agreed on a score clock as their legacy project, the price was "substantially lower," Biggs noted. The cost of the score clock with the advertisement ring at the bottom went from the initial quote of $242,000 up to a total with taxes of $394,520 due to current inflation.
The actual funding request to the city is $79,520. Included in that number are some additional expenses that come from TriCaster that would need to be purchased, regardless of the clock being changed, worth about $20,000, along with a potential upgrade for camera replays for an additional approximately $24,000.
This money would have to be spent regardless of the update to the score clock. The remaining cost for the clock not covered by profits from the tournament, grant and score clock sale comes out to approximately $35,000, which is what the city would have to cover.
While $35,000 for the score clock wasn't included in the budget for this year, city manager Jeff Ward pointed out that they had made an extra $50,000 from concessions, which also weren't forecasted in the budget, and this money could be used to cover extra costs.
City council agreed that they should go ahead with purchasing the clock with an advertisement ring at the bottom, which opens an opportunity for profits. Who will be the beneficiary of the advertisement ring sales is to be decided yet.
Council members also thanked the committee for the successful 2022 Centennial Cup that brought a lot of money and entertainment into the community. And the committee returned the gratitude, thanking the council for the partnership and support they've been receiving from the city since the time of the bid.
The acquisition of the new technology will make the venue more attractive for future big-scale events. And the committee hinted that there are now more plans underway to bring more events to Estevan in the fall.
