Alberni Valley Bulldogs hockey fans might soon be able to have a cold one in the stands following council’s decision to licence the Weyerhaeuser Arena stands.
“We currently have a licence for the [Multiplex] but it’s specific to the upper lounge,” said director of parks, recreation and heritage Scott Kenny.
Kenny added that the exclusiveness of the licence was done on purpose and that he and his staff first wanted to see how it would go before moving ahead with a more expanded licence.
As the current upper lounge liquor service has gone well, Kenny said, they’ve received requests to expand it to the stands.
“Steve Bilodeau, manager of the Multiplex facility, did speak to his counterpart in Cowichan and other facilities,” said Kenny, adding that Cowichan has had a positive experience.
“Maybe five per cent of people actually take anything into the stands,” he added.
While Coun. Denis Sauve expressed concerns regarding the lack of police consultation, Kenny said the choice has to be made now as the current liquor licence expires at the end of July.
“Because our licence expires at the end of this month it’s important for us to make an adjustment now if you want to proceed with that,” said Kenny. He added that security has been taken into account. “We would actually have the team up their security level for their games,” said Kenny.
Having a liquor licence for the Weyerhaeuser Arena stands doesn’t mean that alcohol has to be served, Kenny said, adding that liquor service will only happen during Bulldogs’ games and only if no problems arise.
“The group in there is very well behaved,” said Coun. Ron Paulson. “I can speak from personal experience after being on site for basically every game for 10 years with very few problems.”
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