The Shaw Centre has a $4-million debt payment it can’t currently make, leaving the centre’s management having to work with the province to try to figure out what they can do.
The convention centre was rebuilt and rebranded as The Shaw Centre with $40 million of the $180-million cost covered by a loan from the provincial government’s Ontario Financing Authority. With events not coming as often as hoped, the centre currently doesn’t have the ability to make the $4 million loan-repayment.
“The Ottawa Convention Centre is currently working with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport and the Ontario Financing Authority to develop a debt resolution plan in advance of the first repayment scheduled for September 2018,” said the Centre’s CEO Nina Kressler in an emailed statement. “The Ottawa Convention Centre anticipates that a debt resolution plan will be in place well in advance of the repayment due date.”
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No details have yet been released about just what the debt resolution plan will be.
Kressler pointed out the new Ottawa Convention Centre building, which is owned by the province, was constructed on time and on budget.
The Ontario government is apparently willing to work with the centre.
“We know the Ottawa Convention Centre plays an important role in the success of this sector, attracting conferences and international events to the heart of our nation’s capital,” said Jeff Costen, a spokesperson for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport “With this in mind, we’re working with the Ottawa Convention Centre and the Ontario Financing Authority to confirm the agency’s repayment capacity.”
– By Jesse Cnockaert. This article originally appeared in Metro News.
