McCallum promises no public money for a Surrey arena

Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum says he would not spend public money to build a large new arena in the city, casting doubt on Brenda Locke’s vision for a 10,000-seat City Centre Arena. Speaking on the campaign trail on Sept. 21, McCallum said the city would first wait to see what the project costs. If a larger arena is built in the future, he said, it would have to be built privately, with no public money used while his team is in government.

A month earlier, Locke said Surrey’s plan for a 10,000-seat, $360-million arena could not be undone by the Oct. 17 civic election, which she lost to McCallum. At a groundbreaking event on Sept. 10 at King George Boulevard and 104 Avenue, Locke said all contracts had been completed and signed and the project was ready to proceed. She insisted the election would not impede it.

The following week, McCallum said a council led by the Safe Surrey Coalition would conduct a forensic audit of all land deals on which the arena is based, adding that the team would wait to see what the audit found. Demolition has begun at an old Safeway store on the proposed site of City Centre Arena, a conference centre, hotel, entertainment district and housing. As mayor, Locke planned to have the project built by 2030, with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants moving from Langley Events Centre to become its anchor tenant.

Locke said on Sept. 10 that project partners would be involved in the arena but did not or could not provide specifics. She said there would be investors in every part of the development, including the hotel.

At a campaign stop in Newton, McCallum outlined a plan to expand Bear Creek Stadium into a 10,000-seat facility. The park’s 2,200-seat grandstand opened in 2024. McCallum said he had the existing grandstand built and that it has covered seats on one side. His proposal is to add 3,500 seats on the other side and 2,000 at each end zone. He said the work could be done very easily and at very little cost, using an arena that is already built and in use.

Asked about possible parking problems at Bear Creek Park, McCallum said there is plenty of parking. He also said the city would build SkyTrain along King George, with a station right at Bear Creek, which he described as a major benefit.