After 2 years of discussions, the Burke family is pulling the plug on a $1 million donation to the City of St. Catharines.
In a written statement, obtained by CKTB News, Denise and Bill Burke say they have given up trying to complete the deal.
The owners of the Niagara IceDogs say they are "extremely sad it is come to this" adding "We do not understand why simply trying to make the donation has become such a frustrating ordeal, involving thousands of dollars in legal fees just to try and reach an agreement City staff was directed to finalize by a vote of City Council in April of 2014."
The Burkes say city staff changed the initial agreement which would have seen the street renamed indefinitely to a term of 20 years without their knowledge.
The statement goes on to detail the issues they have had in navigating the donation, saying they will be asking the name "IceDogs Way" be removed from the street.
A Statement from Bill and Denise Burke:
After over two years of struggling to come to a naming rights agreement for IceDogs Way with the City of St. Catharines to finalize our $1-million donation to the Meridian Centre, we have given up trying to complete the deal.
We are extremely sad that it has come to this. Our family was so full of excitement with the new facility, the energy and the opportunity that we approached the City and offered to make a significant donation to the Meridian Centre capital campaign. We do not understand why simply trying to make the donation has become such a frustrating ordeal, involving thousands of dollars in legal fees just to try and reach an agreement City staff was directed to finalize by a vote of City Council in April of 2014.
Report RCS-082-2014, approved unanimously by the General Committee of Council on March 31, 2014 and ratified and adopted at the subsequent meeting of Council on April 14, 2014, specified that City staff was in the process of finalizing the naming rights agreement to IceDogs Way in exchange for the $1 million donation. According to the report: “The naming rights associated with the road would be in perpetuity. In the event that the family chooses to rename the roadway for reasons defined, it has been agreed that ‘Burke Way’ would be an acceptable alternative, subject to the requirement to comply with all applicable statutory processes.” These are the terms our family agreed to, and which we believed we had reached.
When City staff came back to us, the agreement had been changed without our knowledge, contrary to the decision by Council. The street name would only be in place for 20 years, with no option to change it in the future. The result has been a very long and drawn-out process, with multiple attempts by City staff to change the simple terms of the agreement.
We thought the street naming was a good idea and made sense. This was a very simple agreement, made in good faith.
Much to our family’s frustration, City staff have continued to obstruct our efforts to try and resolve this situation. At one point the City took over a year to respond to our inquiries during the discussions. It is unfathomable to us that we would encounter so much difficulty just trying to make a charitable donation.
We will be asking that the name “IceDogs Way” be removed from the street. It saddens us deeply that it has come down to this.
Our family remains committed to St. Catharines and Niagara. We intend to continue to donate to support local institutions and charities. Over the past 10 years, the IceDogs have participated in over 1,500 school and community events. Together with the IceDogs, we have donated over $1.6M to local charities and local community events, including the hospital, the Performing Arts Centre and Niagara Children Centre. Over the past year, the IceDogs have hosted the CHL's first ever Pride Game, initiated a Niagara wide AntiBullying campaign and adopted the "Jr IceDogs" from the CYO Heat.