La Broquerie arena pitch scrutinized

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This article was published 27/05/2015 (3250 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was perhaps the most unpalatable item on the La Broquerie council agenda yesterday.

On Wednesday night, Christian Normandeau arrived at council to discuss his pitch to lease the La Broquerie arena’s new commercial kitchen and turn it into a business enterprise. Normandeau, touting his 15 years of experience in the food service industry, suggested a private tenant was a necessary component of the arena’s upgraded facility.

His presentation faced questions from councillor Ken Tallaire who wondered why they should switch to a private operator after the volunteer-driven Club Sportif has done the job for 50 years. To begin, Tallaire asked what benefit there was to agreeing to Normandeau’s condition of being given free rent for his first year of operations.

Normandeau argued, with a commercial kitchen, there are more liability issues that emerge and it perhaps wouldn’t be wise to continue to have a kitchen staffed by volunteers. He suggested there was immediate benefit to the arena by having someone with experience operating the space.

Tallaire expressed concern that the club has used the canteen as a major fundraiser, collecting upwards of $10,000 a year through sales. If a private tenant was selected, the club not only would lose that revenue but likely would stop hosting major events at the arena, he said.

“Why are you going to (hold events) if you can’t make money on the food,” Tallaire said.

Councillor Cameron Peters asked Tallaire why the club should be handed the right to operate the canteen. Tallaire pointed out that the club’s work has always gone back to support the arena.

“It has always been a community-oriented thing,” Tallaire said.

The money raised isn’t just accumulating in a bank account, he argued.

“Anytime the arena asked for something, it has come back to the arena,” he said.

Council told Normandeau his idea warranted more discussion and also indicated that a request for proposals would be issued if council decided that a private tenant should be contracted.