Beer and Wings.
Perth Mayor John Fenik confers with Coun. Jim Boldt before the start of the committee-of-the-whole meeting on Tuesday, March 5.
Desmond Devoy
PERTH - Spying a darkened utility room looking out over the Perth arena during a recent Jr. B Blue Wings game against the Stittsville Royals gave Perth Mayor John Fenik an idea.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cold beer in there?” he wondered. “I would like to revisit making that room a licensed room,” with the money raised there going to fund things like the arena itself, and other recreation programs throughout the town.
He brought this up at the March 5 committee-of-the-whole meeting.
Fenik sighed that “we built it (the utility room) and they did not come,” echoing the famous Field of Dreams line, before hastening to add that the room would not challenge the nearby Legion for beer-and-hockey fans, but would instead be open for “not a lot of alcohol, but a few beers during the time the Blue Wings are playing,” making it a limited serving facility, for about an hour-and-a-half when the local Jr. B hockey team is hosting.
“I don’t want to undermine any businesses,” said Fenik. “(But) the stands are full and we have space. We can raise some money for our facilities.”
When Coun. Jim Boldt lived in Kanata about 18 years ago, he remembered a similar beer room at the Kanata Sports Club’s Jack Charron Arena.
“That particular room was run as a non-profit (entity, and it) generated between $70,000 and $80,000,” said Boldt. “I am 110,000 per cent behind this move.”
Council voted in favour of the idea, with only the chair, Coun. Judy Brown, voting against it.