Budweiser Gardens

operational

Opportunity The City of London wanted to revitalize its downtown area. A Council resolution seeking to both encourage private sector investment and build a multipurpose entertainment centre and sports complex resulted in the decision to use a public-private partnership to build Budweiser Gardens—formerly known as the John Labatt Centre and London Sports and Entertainment Centre. Challenges As one of the most important projects the city had ever undertaken the project came with significant political risk and generated strong opposition from a vocal minority, particularly in relation to its location. Innovations Both the City and the private partner heavily involved the public in the process in order to demonstrate the project’s value. The City issued revised design and financial requirements after receiving proposals that did not meet all of the City’s needs including an emphasis on building a facility that met the production needs of performing artists. Results Budweiser Gardens is a multipurpose sports and entertainment centre with an NHL-regulation sized arena that can be transformed into a large concert hall or intimate theatre setting with the use of screening curtains, flygrids, retractable seating and a moveable stage. Features include an acoustic deck, state-of-the-art catwalk system, two stars’ dressing rooms and three loading docks. The facility was built on a 2.1-hectare block downtown known as the Talbot Block and includes a reassembled facade of the historic Talbot Inn on the northeast corner. The sports and entertainment centre has 9,000 fixed seats for sporting events and up to 11,000 seats for concerts as well as 38 private (luxury) boxes. A total of around 300,000 visits to the facility annually for a minimum of 36 “new” spectator events have increased tourism and provided an economic boost to London and southwestern Ontario. The new facility generates approximately $4.1 million in spending annually and has an indirect economic impact of approximately $5.3 million. Budweiser Gardens delivered a record payout for London taxpayers in 2014 as the downtown venue continued to outperform pre-construction expectations. A new annual report indicates last year was among the busiest in the former John Labatt Centre’s history, with total income exceeding $6.9 million on the strength of 155 events. For taxpayers, who own the building in a private-public partnership with management firm Global Spectrum, that resulted in their best annual share of proceeds — $972,947, nearly 60 per cent more than 2013. As the $46-million building gets older, city hall’s share of its annual net revenue increases: it was 20 per cent from years one to five, 45 per cent from years six to 10 and from now on it’s 70 per cent annually. Construction of the facility generated the equivalent of 923 person-years of employment which were primarily given to local trades people.   “The public-private partnership for the John Labatt Centre has met all of our objectives. The City and EllisDon have delivered a first class building that can accommodate a wide range of evens. Global Spectrum and the partnership have sold the naming rights, the suites, club seats and advertising. The acts in the building range from Broadway plays to major rock concerts. For most events the building is sold out. The cash flow from the building is exceeding our business case for the project. From the City’s perspective the John Labatt Centre is a real success story.” - Victor Côté, Commissioner of Planning and Development, City of London

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