Memorial Gardens gets new tenant for 2009 Update

It’s a done deal Nipissing University will be the primary tenant at Memorial Gardens come the end fo August 2009.

The decision for the varsity men’s hockey team to call the Gardens home came with a swift unanimous vote of North Bay City Council during the regular meeting Monday night.

Although the Skyhawks organisation and the university could not reach an agreement to cohabitate in the arena both University Representative Al Carfagnini and Councillor Dave Mendicino say the doors remain open for negotiations and a possible agreement.

Carfagnini says it was a bittersweet night and is sorry that finances kept the two organisations from reaching an agreement.

"I feel great for the university but on the other hand I am also local and it’s unfortunate that the Skyhawks (that) we couldn’t come to an agreement ... it’s not completely over, but we have to move forward, the university has to move forward with this."

"It was either tonight or the 21st (for a decision) we had to have an answer because we need to move forward ...the next step is to sit down and finalise the agreement with the city, work with our partners, hire a coach, we need to get all of this ready because we have to go next year."

At this point Carfagnini says the Nipissing brass will have to hit the ground running as they have no prospects and a small window of opportunity.

"That’s why I’m here tonight is to make sure we get an answer so we can move forward," he explains.

"We’ve got to roll on this very quickly; we have a lot of work to do during the next year. We have to hire a coach, we need to look for players, also we need to buy equipment, and everything needs to be done in the next year."

"We need to work out our schedule with the other teams, the OUA, so we certainly will be down there doing that, a tremendous amount of work to do but it’s exciting it’s very exciting for us," he adds.

Carfagnini says a varsity hockey team was not a snap decision made by the university and looking to the future Nipissing wants to grow both programs and population and that is only helped by adding other varsity sports.

"This is Hockeyville," he states.

"Certainly the student experience in varsity sports is a way for us to be recognised nationally and that’s what we plan on doing, it’s all part of our strategic plan."

"That’s exactly what this is we want to attract as many students as we can and if you can put together a good varsity program it has a huge impact on the university and the community."

Carfagnini says costs will be covered by partnerships and the community can look forward to at least 15 home games at the Gardens during the 2009 season.