London City Hall is putting the call out to businesses and corporations that might be interested in buying the naming rights to the Canada Games Aquatic Centre. As the facility continues to undergo renovations, city officials hope to land a sponsorship deal that could be worth up to $100,000 each year.
Councillor Joni Baechler expects a deal will be finalized within the year. London City Hall is accepting submissions from interested businesses until June 24th, and will consider all offers.
Renovations worth $6-million dollars at the Aquatic Centre are slated to finish in November. The city hopes the grand reopening will coincide with Council’s approval of a new sponsorship deal.
Baechler hesitated to say whether she would be open to supporting further sponsorship deals with other similar facilities.
“The sad reality is revenue into the corporation of the city of London really comes from primarily taxpayers, or from fees or services or fines,” said Baechler. “As the municipal infrastructure grows and increases, we have infrastructure gaps with respect to the needs of the community, and I think that we will see likely more and more of this. I’m not necessarily a big proponent of having naming rights for a number of facilities that have been paid for with public dollars. It sort of gives the impression that the corporation paid for the facility, but I appreciate that in a modern age, we need revenue, and this is one of the ways to achieve that.”