City staff is recommending that the GFL Memorial Gardens continue to be managed by City employees rather then being run by a private operator.
A staff report included in council’s agenda for tonight’s meeting suggests that having a private operator may lead to better financial results but at the possible detriment of pricing in terms of ice rentals, food and beverage pricing as well as ticket sales.
The City run facility has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and last year the operating loss came in at over 730-thousand.
However year-to-date the facility has actually operated in the black thanks in large part to the deep playoff run of the Greyhounds.
Up to the end of June, the venue has recorded a surplus of over 107-thousand dollars.
The downtown sports and entertainment venue employs close to 200 part and full-time staff.