With debts mounting, Silver Fox board asks Summerside to buy the complex
'We approached the city. This is not a city takeover,' says longtime curler and volunteer
The City of Summerside is looking into purchasing the Silver Fox Entertainment Complex as the facility deals with financial challenges.
Summerside council voted Monday to continue with a fiscal review and due diligence before deciding whether it will save the popular facility on the city's waterfront.
The entertainment complex is about $400,000 in debt, according to the board that runs it. A representative told CBC News that the COVID-19 pandemic hurt the facility, while the 2023 Canada Games failed to draw enough revenue. That same year, a fire destroyed the complex's kitchen.
The Silver Fox is home to six sheets of curling ice, a fully equipped marina, a restaurant, an entertainment centre, and banquet and meeting facilities.
"We don't have a lot of choices," said Bill Martin, a frequent curler and volunteer at the Silver Fox.
"If the city does not take over this facility for the existing debt… it goes on the open market. And I can almost guarantee you, curling will be gone in the city of Summerside."
What's at stake?
The loss of the Silver Fox would be "absolutely devastating," said Martin.
"This facility is important to the city. Boating is important to the city. The complex, you know, with… 40-odd people working here, it's important to the city," Martin said.
The Silver Fox pays staff between $600,000 and $700,000 in wages on an annual basis, Martin said.
With both a marina and a curling club, the facility is unique, he said.
"I've been in… virtually every marina and yacht club from Toronto east. Nothing like this exists."
On an investment level, Martin said the facility is a "multimillion-dollar asset." He said he could see the Silver Fox being home to different sporting events, which Summerside has a "tremendous reputation" for.
The city's help might be the only thing that can save the complex, Martin said.
"We approached the city. This is not a city takeover."
City's considerations
The mayor of Summerside said the Silver Fox is an "incredible" and "valuable" asset, but the city has other considerations.
"Assets are important to protect, but we also need to make sure we balance that and do things in a fiscally responsible way that's within the scope of what we can and can't do," Dan Kutcher said.
That involves finding out what the value of the assets are, what debts there may be, whether there are any outstanding liabilities and getting a sense of revenue and cost projections, he said.
While the timeline for when council will make its decision is unclear, Kutcher said he hopes it will be within the next couple of months.
In the meantime, Martin said not knowing what will come next is difficult.
"It's the uncertainty that we need to put behind us," he said.
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With files from Tony Davis