Moncton businesses plan lobbying blitz for $107M downtown centre

About 50 Moncton businesses spent two hours on Thursday putting together a lobbying strategy that will put pressure on the provincial government to ante up funds for the $107-million downtown sports and entertainment centre.

Carol O'Reilly, the chief executive officer of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce, said it is "time for action."

O'Reilly said the business community is worried about the delay the provincial government has taken in reviewing the city's request for $24 million for the downtown sports and entertainment centre.

"I think our entire community is concerned about the lack of movement," she said.

"Iknow that at the chamber, that's what we're hearing, we have people calling saying what is the problem?At one point, it appeared that it was going to go ahead and now it's in limbo."

Lawrence Forbes,the outgoing president of Downtown Moncton Inc., saidthe meeting was to work on a new lobbying strategy to target Premier Brian Gallant and his government.

"We're going to go back and try to meet with the premier to try to get our message through," he says.

Forbes says he understands the province is facing tough times.

"There's no question this province is in a very difficulty situation with what's going on the economy is not the greatest. They're talking about closing schools, closing hospitalsand for them to justify it to their electors that putting $25 million into a project, while they're closing hospitals, it's difficult for them to make sense out of that," he said.

The federal government has not announced official funding for the project.

Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe Conservative MP Robert Goguen has said the federal government is prepared to find money from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

But those fundswould be for Moncton to pay for infrastructure, such as roads or water and sewer lines.Thecity would then use the savings to put its own money into the downtown arena.

New tax dollars would be generated

Forbes saidthe businesses want to show that the investment will create spin-off opportunities in the city.

"That's where our job comes in. It's up to us to try to tell the general public, that you know your politicians do have a very difficult decision to make but it's a good sound economic decision," he said.

Forbes says various businesses and hotels came to the meeting to share their investment plans if the project goes ahead.

"But if they're willing to spend $10 million on it imagine how the assessment value is going to go up and they're going to be paying more taxes, an advantage already," he said.

He saidthose investments add up and would boost the economy.

Nicolas Parisi, the general manager of the Crowne Plaza, which is owned by a Vancouver developer, the AquiliniGroup, outlined the company's plans for their property just across the street from the proposed site.

The billionaires bought the hotel eight years ago and added to that investment by buying the whole city block around the hotel threeyears ago.

Parisisays the Aquilini Groupwants to invest more in Moncton but it iswaiting for he future downtown centre to become a reality.

"Absolutely, there's been an on going rumour, then plans, than projects, than meetings for the past seven years," Parisi said.

Parisi saidhe can't say yet what the Aquilini Group is planning but he says it will be a lot less if the project dies.

"We don't even want to think about that,for us it's not an option," he said.

"We need that downtown centre it's a must have for this city."