Asper conspicuously absent

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This article was published 09/11/2010 (5636 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Creswin Properties did not attend the latest football-stadium stakeholders meeting, again raising the possibility David Asper’s development company could be eased out of the project.

Senior officials from the city, province and the University of Manitoba entered the main-floor entrance of city hall’s administrative building on Monday afternoon.

Premier Greg Selinger and Mayor Sam Katz were not present — but neither was Asper or other representatives from Creswin, the company selected by the Winnipeg Football Club to build a new home for the CFL Blue Bombers at the University of Manitoba.

Sources told the Free Press discussions are now underway to create a game plan to complete the stadium without Asper as the quarterback.

Creswin has been sitting on the hot seat since July, when rumblings first emerged about cost overruns at a project originally slated to cost $115 million and the possibility of scaling back the project design.

When the results of tenders were made public last week, the projected cost of the 33,000-seat stadium, with all the amenities promised to the public, was bumped up to $160 million.

According to a memorandum of understanding signed by the city, province, Creswin, the football club and the university back in April, Creswin was responsible for building a $115-million stadium and providing “a performance bond or completion insurance to cover any cost overruns.”

Originally, Creswin was supposed to sign the construction deal with the Winnipeg Football Club. But the contract, signed on July 30, wound up being between Creswin and B&G Stadium Ltd., a non-profit entity created by the city and the University of Manitoba to own the future stadium, club spokesman Darren Cameron said in a statement.

According to the terms of the April deal, the province is providing $90 million worth of bridge financing, on top of a cash contribution of $15 million. Creswin was to contribute up to $10 million in cash and services toward the project.

Creswin also hoped to purchase the existing Canad Inns Stadium site from the city, build a retail complex called The Elms on the Polo Park land and use future profits to pay back $75 million of the $90-million provincial loan, with the remaining $15 million coming from the football club.

On Saturday, Selinger, Katz and other stakeholders met to discuss how to proceed now that the projected cost is $45 million higher.

The options on the table include a renegotiated deal with Creswin, a diminished role in the project for the company or no more Creswin involvement at all.

“There’s still further work going on to look at options and meeting the challenges that arise from the latest tenders that have come in,” Selinger told reporters Monday morning. “The information is getting much more accurate because of the tendering process. That allows people to now sit down and identify how they want to move forward on it.”

Selinger said excavation work conducted at the U of M stadium site to date has been paid by the province through its $90-million loan.

He said Creswin has paid for the design work on the stadium and for the public consultation process held several months ago.

The price of paying Creswin back for this work, should the stakeholders arrive at a decision to proceed without Asper’s company, is believed to be in the low millions.

Creswin officials declined to comment about Monday’s meeting. Late last week, Asper said in an interview his original intention as football-club chairman a decade ago was to see the public sector build a stadium, especially since most of the use would be for amateur sport.

The Winnipeg Football Club also declined to comment on Monday’s meeting. So did city and provincial officials.

The federal government, meanwhile, says it remains committed to contributing $15 million toward the $22.5-million cost of new recreation and athletic improvements at the University of Manitoba. The province is contributing $5 million toward this component of the project, while the city will spend $2.5 million.

A spokeswoman for senior Manitoba MP Vic Toews reiterated Ottawa is not involved with the stadium construction or any of the new discussions.

Katz and Selinger have rejected the notion of fixing up Canad Inns Stadium, which requires “a minimum of $52.5 million in investment in order to keep it safe and functional over the next several years,” according to a report approved by council in April.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca