In last week’s issue we published a story about council’s decision to delay the renaming the Barrhead Aquatics Centre pending information on the costs involved.
And while we applaud their decision — no one should sign off on any work order before at least knowing the rough costs — we can’t help wondering why that information was not available to begin with. It is also something councillors should have asked much earlier, when the facility opened or when the Agrena Society was developing its sponsor package.
After all this, being the donation $250,000 in total by the local Elks chapter to the Barrhead and District Agrena Society’s fundraising efforts, is something the town has been hoping for right from the start.
Did the town not ask or plan for the Agrena Society to contribute $1.5 million towards the construction cost of the $12.178 million facility?
One of the carrots the society was able to dangle in front of potential donors was, for contributions of a certain amount they would be able to name components of the aquatic centre, including the entire facility.
The town would have had to sign-off on the plan before the society started soliciting for donations. At the very least they would have been have been aware of their intentions.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that someone took the Agrena Society up on their offer and therefore they should have been more prepared when the question arose.
That being said, we agree with council’s decision to making a decision on whether they should come to an agreement with the Elks in exchange for the naming rights of the facility. In theory, ratepayers could be on the hook for more than the donation that is coming in. It is not likely, but one still has to make sure of the answer before proceeding.
A more plausible scenario, but in our minds still not likely, is that the cost of the name change, will be substantial, but less than what was donated. Even if it is the $50,000 figure Coun. Don Smith threw out for discussion, the town would be ahead in the deal. However, we suspect the final figure for changing the sign, and lighting it, as requested by the Elks, will come in substantially less than that.
And even if it doesn’t, as long as the town doesn’t lose money on the deal, then the only question councillors should ask themselves is if they believe the Elks and the name they have chosen, ‘Barrhead Elks Club Regional Aquatics Centre’ are worthy enough to name one of its facilities after.
The answer to that question is yes. If you want proof just ask any of the many community groups the service club has helped over the years.
