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Markham NHL-class arena project, near Toronto, raises a lot of questions

Is it a jump into the big leagues or a massive boondoggling over-reach?

The city council in Markham, Ont., roughly a 30-minute drive north of Toronto, has voted overwhelmingly to borrow $162.5 million to build a giant arena complex that could conceivably house a National Hockey League team.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the Markham Chargers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs," councillor Alex Chiu said before Thursday's 11-2 vote, according to the Toronto Star.

The idea excites hockey boosters such as Bruce Jackson, who owns the Markham Waxers Junior A team.

"It's the kind of thing that will have athletes in our community absolutely buzzing," he told the Star.

But other residents are worried the bedroom town of 300,000 will face hikes in property taxes - currently the lowest in the Greater Toronto Area - if the council's grand plans go sideways.

"It's going to be on the residents of Markham to fund this if anything goes wrong," longtime resident Donna Bush told the Star outside of council chambers, citing Glendale, Arizona, home of the financially-troubled Coyotes NHL team.

Councillors promised money for the city's share of the $325-million project's price tag would be raised through fees on land development and service fees for the 20,000-seat arena itself.

The other half of the capital for the project would be provided by private partner GTA Sports and Entertainment, headed by W. Graeme Roustan. He helped bring the Tampa Bay Lightning to San Jose, Calif. and made unsuccessful bids to acquire the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The big-city arena is widely thought to be bait intended to lure a second NHL franchise to the Toronto area.

Critics are worried about the haste with which this project went through the city's political process. Details surfaced just last year, the National Post reported.

Council only ever discussed it in private, and councillors were briefed only after they signed non-disclosure agreements.

"The reason for the secrecy became apparent on April 20, when the proposal was finally officially unveiled: Public money would be used to fund half of the arena's projected $325-million cost. Six days later — six days! — council approved the plan," Post sports writer Scott Stinson wrote. "No referendum. No consultation with the public. The project wasn't even put to tender. This is how boondoggles start."

The city obviously has hockey stars in its eyes, Stinson concluded.

"Spending that kind of money just for culture and entertainment?" complained Coun. Joe Li. "Come on. We won't even break even."

Stinson suggested this is all part of gambit by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to keep marginal U.S. franchises in line by dangling the prospect of a move to a shiny new Canadian location.

"An NHL-ready arena in Markham becomes an excellent bargaining chip when the league wants to convince a city that already has a franchise that it needs to invest public money in a new or upgraded arena," he wrote.

And on the outside looking in: Hamilton.

The Steel City has been trying for an NHL franchise for years, based on arguments that its got the necessary market and an NHL-ready arena in Copps Coliseum.

"For years, the biggest advantage we've boasted in the fruitless chase for a team is that Copps was the only rink in southern Ontario big enough to host an NHL team," the Hamilton Spectator's Scott Radley wrote.

"If a franchise was going to move and this area was in play, the possibilities were limited to Hamilton. Not anymore."

Besides having a flashy new venue, Markham would have the advantage of compensating the perpetually flush Toronto Maple Leafs for poaching on their market, while the league might view a team in Hamilton as potentially damaging the Buffalo Sabres.

"Nobody believes a second Toronto-area team would kill the Leafs," Radley wrote. "However, there are plenty of folks who still have concerns about how hard the Sabres would be hit if another team was plopped nearby."

Research-in-Motion executive Jim Balsillie, who was behind previous unsuccessful attempts to snag the Phoenix Coyotes for Hamilton, once proposed paying for upgrades to Copps. But RIM is on the skids and Balsillie is out of the company.

"Anyone who wants to sidle up to the table will now want to be playing with house money," meaning taxpayers, Radley wrote.

(CBC image)