By Wolf Depner - Penticton Western News - June 19, 2008
Local minor hockey players may not get a chance to play in the new South Okanagan Events Centre complex after council voted against giving Penticton Minor Hockey Association a financial break. The association had asked council to extend current subsidies for the use of Memorial Arena to the community rink now under construction next to the South Okanagan Events Centre. But a majority of council voted to deny the request because of financial reasons. Those reasons include the absence of funds within the city budget and the goal to reduce subsidies, among others. That is why the city hired private management company Global Spectrum to run the facility as part of a larger complex that includes the South Okanagan Events Centre, the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre and Memorial Arena, said Leo den Boer, city administrator in explaining the city’s decision. Minor hockey president Bruce Judd said the decision disappointed him. “It is very, very unfair and they don’t have all the facts in front of them,” he said in an interview. The issue came to the forefront when PMHA lost the contract to run the concession stands during Penticton Vees games to Global Spectrum — a financial loss pegged at $45,000. Minor hockey also heard earlier this year that it would no longer receive a $15,000 grant, leaving the association short to cover the higher rental costs for the facility. Judd pegs this shortfall at $51,000, even with a 35 per cent spike in membership rates to cover the higher rental fees. These realities may deny minor hockey players access to the new facility, said Judd.
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