$1M upgrade for WFCU came out of nowhere, city councillor says

One Windsor city councillor says councilwasn'taware of nearly $1 million in upgrades needed to get the WFCU Centre ready for the upcoming Mastercard Memorial Cup before deciding to support the bid for the tournament.

A report on the upgrades outlines costs for creating a new areafor reporters, new rink boards, glass and additional dressing rooms at an estimated cost of $990,000. Some upgrades are specifically for the Memorial Cup, others are part of routine maintenance.

• Hockey tournaments prompt call for $1M in WFCU upgrades

• Windsor Spitfires to host 2017 Memorial Cup

• $150K for backup generator approved by Windsor city council

Coun. Bill Marra says that while he supports spending the money,he has questions with the timing of the report.

"This report should have come forward when the report came to council seeking support for pursuing the Memorial Cup," Marra said. "In the interest of full transparency and disclosure we should have known what all the cost implications were."

Marra said hethinks the Memorial Cup will be a success for Windsor and agreesthat the upgradesare needed.

"It's no different than maintaining your personal residence," Marrasaid. "If you let certain things go over time and you choose not to invest the dollars or you don't have the dollars available, those costs will escalate exponentially."

The Canadian Hockey Leaguerequested the new space for mediawhich will need to fit about 150 reporters, according to the report. The Windsor Spitfires organization identified the other upgrades as keys to landing hockey tournaments in the future.

The team says the boards and glass need to be replaced. The arena also hasn't had a new coat of paint since it first opened nearly a decade ago.

This is the second request for funding for the WFCU within the last two weeks. At council on Sept. 19, Mayor Drew Dilkens asked for $150,000 to install the infrastructure for a backup generator at the arena.

When Windsor was first awarded the Memorial Cup in May Windsor Mayor Drew DilkenstoldWindsor Morningthese types of upgrades could be expected, though he did not say how much those would cost.

"Nothing has to be changed automatically," Dilkens said at the time. "We maylook at, as a result of securing these games, what the broadcast requirements would be and try and time any capital spends we have to make sure if we're doing any upgrades to the facility that we do something that's going to benefit the facility."

According to the report, the upgrades were identified after Windsor won the rights to host the Memorial Cup.

Marra said he's concerned that the money will be borrowed from future budgets, adding he wants to see a reserve fund created to pay for the upkeep of Windsor's major sports venues.

"It's clear [the upgrades] are required," he said. "Either we do this, or we get out of the business of hosting major events."