After allowing a fiver-year agreement for events centre naming rights with Canalta to expire this summer, the city has inked a 10-year deal with South Country Co-op. The arena will now be dubbed Co-op Place.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The City of Medicine Hat’s events centre is now “Co-op Place,” it was announced Monday as a new naming rights agreement for the spectator hockey rink was presented to council.
South Country Co-op acquired the rights for the building, known as the Canalta Centre since it opened in 2015, for 10 years, though monetary terms were not disclosed.
The entire South Country board was on hand on Monday’s council meeting and general manager Paul Haynes said the deal highlights the retailer’s commitment to the community, and can build other opportunities.
“It’s going to be a win for us, because we have the opportunity to supply food and liquor into the facility and provide good, local support,” said Haynes, adding discussions on what role the region’s co-operative retailing enterprise might play is still under discussion.
“We have so many locations around Medicine Hat. It’s a good opportunity to really promote what’s going on there (at the arena),” he said.
Mayor Ted Clugston said Co-op is a strong partner that is expanding.
“I’ve been following them around cutting ribbons for a couple years,” he told reporters, while also thanking Canalta Hotels.
That company secured the initial naming rights for the building when it opened in 2015, signing a five-year agreement that included three options for five-year extensions.
The financial terms of that deal were not disclosed, but it was apparently allowed to expire this summer.
Josie Doll, the city’s “partnership manager,” told council that finding a corporate naming sponsor during the pandemic was “a daunting task” but Co-op’s localized business model fit well with the facility.
This summer, the city took over direct management of the 6,000-seat arena rather than renegotiate a new deal in the midst of a pandemic with former contracted management firm ASM Management. Money from the deal goes into the operations budget.
The arena hasn’t hosted a major event since mid-March due to pandemic rules against large gatherings. Currently, the spectator limit is 100 patrons, though the Western Hockey League has vowed to start its season in early January.
City councillors, too, hailed the partnership as a signal of strength of local businesses.
“Where are the Googles and the Amazons that rake in billions and don’t have a cent to put back to the city?” asked Coun. Phil Turnbull, citing Co-op’s sponsorships of the fitness facility at the Family Leisure Centre and improvements to the youth section at Medicine Hat Public Library.
New land listings
A huge parcel of highway commercial land the city held next to the Trans-Canada-Box Springs Road interchange will hit the market under an ongoing program to clear out the municipal land inventory.
The unbroken, 14-acre lot sits between Saamis Drive and the No. 1 highway (west of Box Springs Road), and will have a listing price of $3.3 million, according to an item presented and approved by council on Monday.
Two properties, including a one-acre parcel near Oxford Ave. (near the Medicine Hat Regional Airport, asking price $220,000), are the latest of about a dozen properties brought forward over three years by the land department. Council directed those administrators to seek out land no-longer needed for municipal purposes and create marketing strategies.
