Charlottetown sells arena naming rights to Danny Murphy
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The $25.5-million Simmons Sport Centre is getting a brand new identify.
Danny Murphy, the proprietor of the Tim Hortons franchise in P.E.I., is paying the Metropolis of Charlottetown $250,000 for the naming rights to the ability.
That cash might be payable over 5 years at $50,000 per 12 months.
At a particular public assembly on March 10, metropolis council accredited a decision that can see the brand new enviornment named the D.P. Murphy Wellness Centre.
Development on the constructing is anticipated to start within the spring and be prepared by September 2023. A brand new pool might be constructed adjoining to the sector and that must be prepared by June 2023.
The present Simmons Sport Centre, which opened in 1972, will stay open till the brand new facility is prepared. The present pool, nonetheless, received’t be obtainable this summer season because of the development.
Talks between Murphy and town on naming rights started in July 2021.
Murphy’s settlement with town spans 15 years though the cash might be paid throughout the first 5 years of the deal. Murphy may also have the primary proper of refusal to maintain the identify when the contract runs out.
The town didn’t go public with a name for submissions for the naming rights.
Throughout a gathering of the finance committee on March 10, Peter Kelly, town’s chief administrative officer, mentioned this was an unsolicited provide from Murphy.
By comparability, so far as group facility naming rights go, for the previous Sherwood Sportsplex grew to become the Cody Banks Area based mostly on a one-time $50,000 sponsorship.
The challenge is being cost-shared by all three ranges of presidency with town’s portion amounting to $6.7 million.
Dave Stewart is a municipal reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island.
