Bauer Performance Sports Chair Graeme Roustan, the head of the GTA Sports & Entertainment group backing the $327M new arena planned for Markham, Ont., "confirmed Wednesday the 20,000-seat arena will be designed by BBB Architects" and "built by PCL Constructors Canada," according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. Both companies "worked on the Air Canada Centre," home to the Maple Leafs and the Raptors, which opened in February '99. Principal Murray Beynon and other BBB architects also "designed several other prominent arena projects," including the nearly $1B makeover of Madison Square Garden. The Markham arena is "planned for a six-acre parcel of land near Highway 407 and Kennedy Road." Roustan "hopes to see it open in 2014 and play host to the 2015 world junior hockey championship." Markham city councillors "approved an arrangement under which the municipality will borrow" the $327M needed to build the arena. GTA Sports & Entertainment "will pay back half the cost of the city's loan with the other half coming from revenue from the arena and entertainment centre after it opens and from future development in Markham." However, the arena "does not have a definite green light as some hurdles remain." There are "several steps of approval left and the city can pull the plug if it feels uncomfortable with the plans" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/9).
