Scott Radley: Teams angry FirstOntario Centre renos will displace them for two seasons

Two of the teams that call FirstOntario Centre home are fuming at the city and the group charged with renovating the arena after being told Friday they're going to be forced out of the building for the better part of two seasons while upgrades are done.

Work will begin late next summer and should take 20 months, meaning the 2023-'24 season and much of the '24-'25 season will be lost.

Right now I'm so pissed off," Hamilton Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer said. We won a championship for the city and I've just been kicked out by the city."

I feel the same way," said Mike Morreale, commissioner of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, which owns the Hamilton Honey Badgers. I'm angry. I'm not happy about it at all. The communication breakdown has just been incredible. There's been none."

The construction will also affect the Toronto Rock lacrosse team. Concerts and other special large-group events will also be affected.

Until now, both Andlauer and Morreale said, they'd been led to believe their teams would be able to continue playing on site through most of the construction, even if it meant delaying the start of their home schedules or ending early. They said they were blindsided by the new plan because they'd heard nothing from HUPEG, the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group, the site's renovator, for months.

However, in an emailed statement to The Spectator, HUPEG said Andlauer was twice notified during informal conversations at Bulldogs games during last spring's OHL final. The statement cites what are claimed to be verbatim conversations between Andlauer and HUPEG partner Jasper Kujavsky to that effect.

The statement says Morreale was updated during an informal conversation in October.

There have been conversations at different levels including within the franchises, HUPEG, the City, and the venue managers, in which the prospect of a 2023-2024 shutdown and construction beginning in the late summer/early fall of 2023 have been discussed," the statement says.

Andlauer disagreed. He said he learned of the decision in a heated phone call with HUPEG president P.J. Mercanti and at least one city employee on Friday after which he received a letter officially outlining the timeline.

Before that discussion, the Bulldogs owner said the last email he received from the group came months ago. Morreale, who received a similar letter on Friday, said he hadn't heard from the organization for a year until he unexpectedly ran into a member at an event a month ago. But even that didn't alert him to what was coming, he said.

Both men say they understood that construction was going to be done in pieces as was the case at Madison Square Garden in New York, which might've led to some inconveniences but would've allowed them to keep playing through the work.

That's what I was told," Morreale said. But the letter is opposite to that."

The letter they received acknowledges discussions about that option had been held with architects and construction partners but explains it's not recomended at FirstOntario Centre for logistical and financial reasons.

This is unquestionably a huge project. Cost estimates have ranged from $80 million to $200 million. HUPEG says it will save taxpayers $155 million over 30 years while creating an updated state-of-the-art arena that goes beyond that had been required in the master agreement with the city.

Regardless, Andlauer said, not learning the plans until now creates a massive problem for him because he's supposed to submit available dates for his arena to the Ontario Hockey League by next month so work can begin on next year's schedule. Now he said he has no idea where his team will be playing - there are no OHL-appropriate buildings in Hamilton or Burlington - and by extension, what nights are available.

Now I've got no place to go," he said.

Morreale said his problem isn't just scheduling but the similar lack of other workable venues in the area. He said he will probably have to place the Honey Badgers far afield for two seasons.

Finding a place quickly is a problem all by itself. But after trying to get momentum as a new league and then trying to gain traction again after a COVID layoff, he said, starting fresh for a third time is a gut punch.

To envision another stoppage of two years is concerning," he said. There's no doubt about it. It's very concerning."

The owner of the Toronto Rock also received the notification letter on Friday. Jamie Dawick said he wasn't shocked - he knew a renovation was coming - but he hadn't been kept in the loop any more than the others.

He said he's trying to be positive and think about the finished product three years down the road. And since he doesn't know all the details of the construction timeline, he hopes his team will only be displaced for one season, though there are questions if that's possible.

Still, having to find a new home just a year after moving to Hamilton sucks for me."

We didn't think it was going to be to this extent by any means," he said.

HUPEG said it will help the teams facilitate conversations to find places to play. And communication will change going forward.

We acknowledge that in the future all tenants and stakeholders will benefit from more routine update meetings, and we are committed to scheduling and facilitating these meetings to ensure communication efforts are enhanced," the statement said.

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com