It will be money well spent if the core review investigates if we are getting value for money out of the city manager’s office.Derek Bates is paid more than all of the councillors combined even after they get their raise.

Changing a few faces on council will have little difference, it is time to change some of the mandarins at city hall.

What about a zero tolerance policy on drinking and driving? You drink at the game you walk from the game!

There should be road blocks after the games for sure….MAKE SURE no one is driving after drinking!

Yeah, let’s do everything we can to make sure it takes at least an hour to get out of the CN Centre Parking lot after a Cougars game.

Give your heads a shake.

The core reveiw should look at the cost of having the Cougers at the CN Centre. Last two games averaged less than 1900 fans. Average for the year runs around 2000. The Cougers are a private business being subsidized by tax dollars to the tune of $60,000.00 per year. If they cant pay their way, then they should move on. We can find lots of other uses for this facility that would generate more money.

Interesting that the City wants to look at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club as a Community Centre. What does this mean?? Will the Tennis Club, Curling, and Golf, people be able to use the facility on the cheap, with the Community Centre picking up the costs?? Who knows. It looks like the Golf club is staying put. If so, what happens to the property they were in the process of buying North East of Town??

We need a full explanation as to what is taking place at the Golf Course, and how much money is it going to cost the City to run it as a Community Centre.

Palopu you are right talking about the cost of the cougars. We are still paying off the debt for the cost of the building that they get to play in and the money they pay in rent barely covers the cost to operate it. I wonder if the core review will suggest pay parking at CN Centre like at almost every other sports complex in North America?

Also looks like Council might be looking at expanding rec services in the future to include subsidizing golf, curling and tennis. i.e. further tax hikes in the future.

Oh well at least we will have $350,000 set aside for a consultant to do a core review and help mayor and council identify where they could cut. Wait a minute isn’t that their job?

http://princegeorge.ca/cityhall/mayorcouncil/councilagendasminutes/agendas/2012/2012_01_09/documents/Rpt_Cmty_Rec_Facility_Feasibilty_MERGED.pdf

That is a link to the item regarding the tennis club’s move. They are also willing to move to the Exhibition grounds.

The city has to move the club at the city’s cost. They were forced to move when the Aquatic Centre was built.

This is a request to Council to spend time to address the move, that is all it is. However, part of that exploration would be to look at the City taking over ownership of the clubhouse and presumably the curling facility.

I am wondering whether they have looked at the possibility of working with the Y.

Try driving Ospika at the end of Cougars game, half of the fans leaving the game are driving like they are drunk anyways.

Cut the core review to start with and save the 350K.

Seems like the grandiose plan to build a new golf course has gone the way of the Doo Doo bird.

The PGGCC has had a significant reduction in members over the last 10 years, from a high of 800 members with a waiting list, to approx 400 members. In addition the average age of members is 55 or more. In addition very few if any new members signing up. The selling of the old course and the building of the new course was intended to keep this facility alive.

It now appears that the course will go broke. (or already has) They cannot generate enough revenue to support the facility. So it appears that the City under the guise of moving the Tennis Club, and keeping the Curling Club operational, will once again be supporting this facility with tax dollars.

It will be interesting to see what the final **plan** is.

Golfing/curling/tennis, etc; are all declining in interest. Facilities like the Legion, Elks, Moose, etc; all have huge membership problems. This is because Prince George is fast becoming a **seniors** town. Young people do not make enough money to join these facilities. Especially a golf club that costs $1200.00 per year to join, along with a onetime $1500.00 debenture.

Thanks Gus for the link to the letter outline from the City regarding the tennis club requests.
So, how about a new title for the club house? Prince George Golf, Curling and Tennis Club….
Cancel golf moving and put new trees in, City spend some mooney in the relocation of the tennis club. Make it a community facility as suggested. AND use the proceeds from selling the commercial land to underwrite this whole thing!

sun storm,
They don’t have road blocks checking for drinking drivers leaving our bars, so why shouldn’t the drinking drivers coming from the Cougars games get the same chances at escape and or killing someone that the bar goers get?

We call it collateral damage. Bring on the beer!

There are many Golf and Tennis clubs in the world. The two go together quite naturally, and ofen thow in an outdoor swimming pool. Basically they are true social clubs centred around some athletic activities which have small spectator potential.

BUT, they are typically private. The public ones are quite sparse.

I think once you join those two sports together with the curling, then there should be both indoor and outdoor tennis.

I think if the Club wants to make some money, they might consider leasing part of the property to a hotel. The casino is across the road, the shopping mall is there and the athletic facilties with restaurant are there. Add a pool, banquet facilties and a hotel and also consider that there is a small theatre nearby which can be used for both entertainment and speakers, and you have a mini resort of sorts.

Enjoy your stay in PG … ;-)

unfortunately at this stage I don’t think even a nice cold brew would be enough to attract more fans to watch the cougs. If they aren’t coming now then a beer at an inflated price isn’t going to attract more fans to CN Centre though it might generate a bit more money for the city.

Beer in the stands also won’t be enough to keep the team. They will be gone within the year and with less then 2,000 per game I wouldn’t blame them. On the plus side there will be a lot more ice time available for rec hockey.

Gone to Shooters lately? Are they going to do that at the Multiplex too? If not why not?

https://www.donaldaclub.ca/Club%20Info/About%20Us.aspx

Donalda Club offers, golf, tennis, fitness, curling, squash and dining facilities for the entire family, all in the heart of the city of Toronto.

Donalda Club is a high quality, well managed, family oriented golf and multi-activity country club in the city of Toronto that provides year round recreational and social activities to meet the needs of its members.

But, there may not be enough money in PG to support such a facility ….