Thousand Islands Youth Boxing Club may move to Lou Jeffries Arena in future
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Gananoque’s chief administrative officer has been given the green light by council to draft a six-month extension to the lease agreement with the Thousand Islands Youth Boxing Club to allow them to stay at the former Kinsmen Building until Dec. 31.
Staff were also directed to spend up to $3,000 to hire an engineer to determine if the second floor of the Lou Jeffries, Gananoque and TLTI Recreation Centre can carry the weight of the boxing club’s equipment.
At the May 2 council meeting, council directed staff to bring forward a lease agreement for the Thousand Islands Youth Boxing Club at the former Kinsmen Building using progressive rental increases.
After the meeting, Adam Funnell, head coach and board member of the TIYBC emailed the town’s CAO to express the club’s interest in renting the space on the second floor of the Lou Jeffries Arena, indicating that the boxing club will no longer be able to afford rent at the Kinsmen building in the coming months and are hoping for an alternative. The club requested to move at the end of the current lease – July 1 or anytime thereafter. They are requesting the same price per square foot of $4.95 plus HST.
Staff explored the viability of offering the upstairs hall of the Lou Jeffries Arena for this purpose. The following are the findings.
The total square footage of the upstairs hall, kitchen, storage room and bathrooms is 4,427 square feet.
The engineer who is currently working on the arena five-year structural review, was asked to determine if the upstairs hall could support the weight of the boxing club ring and equipment. The Boxing Club estimates the total weight of 15,000 lbs would be required. This includes 6,600 lbs of which would be mats spread evenly. It also includes the ring, heavy bags, cardio equipment, and weights equipment. The engineer requires a budget of up to $3,000 to complete this assessment.
Staff’s research, according to its report to council, shows that an average second storey wooden floor can hold 40 lbs per square foot which would suggest that the arena upstairs floor can hold 176,000 lbs. The arena floor is made of steel/concrete which means that it can hold more weight than wooden joists. Spreading the weight over the floor surface also limits the impact of the weight. To that end, staff are fairly comfortable that the arena second floor can accommodate the boxing club’s requirements making this a feasible option for council to consider. Having said that, staff still strongly recommend having an engineer confirm this high-level analysis and confirm the integrity of the floor as the building is 50 years old.
The following are the pros and cons associated with considering the upstairs hall for use by the boxing club, that staff presented to council. The pros being: makes year-round use of the upstairs hall of the Lou Jeffries Arena thereby maximizing existing municipal recreational space; 2022 annual revenue for the upstairs hall was $8,253.13. If the boxing club were to pay $21,913.65 per year (plus HST), this would be an annual increase of $13,660.52 in revenues for the arena; this would reduce staffing hours having to be onsite during regular rentals and to administer bookings for the room.
The con, as noted by staff, are: it displaces current users of the arena (birthday parties, bridal showers, Probus meetings, tournament support, skate club end of year banquet, yoga, senior’s fitness classes, ability dogs Canada, licensed events, Girls’ Inc. camp, etc.).
It was noted to council that as an alternative, these renters may be relocated to the downstairs lobby which is currently underutilized.
As well, if the upstairs cannot hold the weight of the boxing club, the downstairs lobby is an underutilized space that could be considered. There would be no need for an engineering analysis as this space is at ground level. Public access to the canteen and the warming room would be maintained. The square footage of the lobby space is 1,833 square feet not including the washrooms which are another 250 square feet.
Another alternative is the vacant building located directly to the East of Town Hall at 50 King Street East, former Arlene’s Photos. It has 1,720 square feet available and high ceilings. The monthly rent is $5,000 triple net. The annual property taxes are $6,450.89. The landlord, staff noted, is willing to do renovations. Council was informed this option is quite a bit more expensive than the town’s current offer of the former Kinsmen Building and is half of the space.
(Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.)
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