Councillor asks City of Winnipeg to put brakes on Vimy Arena sale
St. Charles Coun. Shawn Dobson says the arena and land are worth more than $1.43 million
The city councillor for St. Charles wants the city to put the brakes on the deal to sell the Vimy Arena for an addiction recovery centre and take 60 days to give the land and arena a closer look.
Just two days before council as a whole votes on a deal that would sell the arena for $1 to the province, which would in turn lease it to an addictions recovery centre, Shawn Dobson is urging his fellow councillors to take a step back after he was told the Vimy site is worth far more than the assessed value of $1.43 million.
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Dobson said he was told by a senior administrator the appraisal was only for the land, not the building.
"The building was paid for by the taxpayers in the City of Winnipeg," Dobson wrote in a news release.
"If we were to build a similar structure without ice and purchase the land, it would cost upwards of $5 million," he wrote.
Last week the city's executive policy committee, the mayor's agenda-setting group of councillors, voted unanimously to sell the property for $1 to Manitoba Housing, which would then lease it to the Bruce Oake Foundation for $1 a year for 99 years.
Dobson will introduce a motion Thursday, when city council is scheduled to vote on the deal, asking his fellow councillors to put off the vote for 60 days to re-examine the assessed value of both the arena and land.
"That would tell us what the land and building are actually worth so that the general public would actually know that we're giving away a $2 or $3 million or $4 million building and land," Dobson said in an interview.
"Maybe they won't think that's a good deal."
Dobson said he and members of the community want to see some kind of recreation facility on the site.
"Giving it away would be a disservice to all the residents whose tax dollars paid for it," Dobson said.
"The biggest epidemic facing our society right now is inactivity."
For the sale to Manitoba Housing to go through, two-thirds of councillors must vote to approve it.