Aud Expansion

There will be a Council meeting held tonight to decided weather or not the Aud will be getting an expansion.

Last week the “Aud Report” passed through a Community and Infrastructure Committee meeting and the recommendation sees the City of Kitchener secure a $10 million loan on behalf of the Kitchener Rangers, which the team will repay over the next 15 years.

Rangers COO Steve Bienkowski tells 570News there much more to the expansion than just extra seats.

“There’s eight new additional suites will be added, but more importantly an entire new concourse area will be built, exiting elevators and a media box.”

There will also be a fourth-level media room, more washrooms, concessions and renovated team space if all goes well tonight at the meeting.

Bienkowski says the Rangers went to the City for financing, but taxpayers will not be paying a dime for the expansion.

“People say well, the taxpayers shouldn’t be paying and the City shouldn’t be paying, but truly the City is acting as the bank here and that’s all.”

City of Kitchener Mayor Karl Zehr agrees and says that they thought about getting a loan for the Rangers from Infrastructure Ontario.

“However, it would be at a rate a little higher than the money that we would be able to lend.”

Zehr adds that Rangers are very beneficial to the community.

“They’re putting about $400,000 dollars back into the community through charitable organizations. And if they’re cost overruns, that is something that the Rangers will be dealing with, it is not the City or the taxpayers.”

A main concern of the expansion however, is parking, in that there is not enough of it.  Zehr says that although it’s not completely figured out, the Ranger will have a plan in place.

“The Rangers will have a shuttle service available from the new downtown parking garage to the Auditorium.”

Zehr also says that in a study conducted it shows that there are sufficient parking spaces within a kilometre radius of the Auditorium, however efforts into finding other alternatives will continue.

People are expected to show there support for an expansion of the Aud at tonight’s Council meeting and things are looking good. The “Aud Report” passed with 6 votes in favour, 2 against and 3 absent, and with 11 votes around the horseshoe, 6 is what it takes to pass a recommendation.

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