St. John's pumps up Mile One subsidy

St. John's city council has voted to add 50 per cent to its annual subsidy for Mile One Centre and a neighbouring convention centre.

At its regular meeting Monday evening, councillors voted 7-3 to raise its subsidy to $1.5 million.

The decision came hours after the release of a study that showed Mile One and the St. John's Convention Centre deliver about $21 million in spinoffs to the city's economy.

Coun. Shannie Duff said the report, which was commissioned by Destination St. John's, was persuasive.

"If we did not have Mile One and the Convention Centre, we would not have had the major increase in big conventions and meetings," Duff told the meeting.

"It benefits almost every sector of this economy— in direct sales, in taxis, in restaurants and everything else."

The report found that more than 10,000 convention delegates spent about $15 million on such things as hotels, restaurants and entertainment.

"Mile One has put us on the map, and in terms of being on a circuit, where conventions are held — that's all new money that flows into the economy," said consultant Kathy-Jane Elton.

Steve Sparkes, a member of the board of St. John's Sports and Entertainment, which runs Mile One, said the study made the case for a bigger subsidy.

"We're hoping to dispel the belief that Mile One was a bad investment and that it's costing the taxpayers of the city a fortune. That, absolutely, is not the case," Sparkes said.

The study, however, did not address the cost of running Mile One and the convention centre, which are joined by an overpass across New Gower Street.

Mile One has been losing money since it opened in 2001. Earlier this year, its accumulated debt was pegged at more than $7 million.

Coun. Art Puddister did not see enough evidence to warrant hiking what had been an annual $1-million subsidy.

"The board of management did say a number of times that by 2010 we could operate Mile One without any subsidy— well, I don't believe that is really a realistic goal," Puddister said.

Coun. Frank Galgay suggested the city might save its subsidy and still get the benefits of Mile One by privatizing it.

A number of other councillors argued that would notwork, and that stadiums and convention centres are money-losers in many North American cities but that local governments subsidize them because of the spinoffs.

Mile One opened in 2001, as the new home for the St. John's Maple Leafs hockey team. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved its farm team to Toronto in 2005.

Management has been rebranding Mile One, dropping "stadium" from its title and recasting itself as Mile One Centre, with a greater focus on entertainment. Mile One is now home to the St. John's Fog Devils, a major junior hockey franchise.