Local landmarks in Fort St John may go through a rebrand and renaming process after city council agreed to begin selling sponsorship rights to a number of facilities.
The councillors decided to authorize staff to begin the process after hearing a presentation from a consultant group. The group determined what the sale price would be for each facility to be named after a private company.
The city asked the agency to look into selling these rights to avoid raising taxes.
“Naming rights on municipal facilities provide a dependable, contractual, significant revenue stream and provide public relations advantages and goodwill to those organizations that choose to support their community this way,” explained city staff in their report to council.
The consulting company determined the North Peace Culture Club as the most valuable viable option to have its naming rights sold at a price of $77,500 – a naming sponsorship at Pomeroy Sport Centre was worth almost double. However, the rights are not available currently and may not be as the company has a renewal clause included in their agreement with the city.
The home of the Huskies would be worth $65,000. All remaining facilities, including the Kids Arena Fieldhouse, North Peace Leisure Pool, Fort St John Curling Club, and Festival Plaza, were worth less than $50,000.
Parks were also priced by the consultants. Centennial Park would be worth $20,000, Toboggan Hill Park would be worth $15,000, and the Fish Creek Trail would be worth half of that price.
City staff also had Kin Park and Surerus Park assessed – with the former’s naming rights being worth $25,000 and the latter’s being $20,000. During the meeting, staff clarified that they do not intend on renaming those parks. Instead, they sought estimates for future reference.
Prices were determined based on several factors, including the volume of visitors, the amount of competition in the area, and if there is potential for hosting events. Not every park was included in the initial presentation, but the city said they could expand depending on the success of this program.
