The homeless Newfoundland Growlers are eyeing three potential venues for their next homestand beginning December 1—but the Mary Brown’s Centre is not one of them.
The ECHL team was kicked out of the province’s largest arena by the City of St. John’s on the eve of their first homestand of the season. That led to them playing the first six homers out of the CBS Arena in Kelligrews.
Dean MacDonald, president and CEO of Deacon Sports and Entertainment, says there have been no discussions with the city. The company has initiated court action to, among other things, recover lost revenue.
MacDonald says one of the possibilities is the Civic Centre in Corner Brook, which has capacity for about 3,000—close to twice that of Conception Bay South.
He says they have a fan base on the west coast and this might be an opportunity to play there.
MacDonald says the toughest aspect of moving around is logistics. They would have to get their players out to the west coast, so that mean a 7-hour bus ride or a plane ride.
He expects to announce their decision around mid-week.
City of St. John’s Responds
Meanwhile, the City of St. John’s says it appreciates that the Growlers are under pressure to identify a venue for December 1.
While the city says it is limited in what it can say while a disrespectful workplace investigation is underway, it is hopeful that the matter will be resolved as quickly as possible without hindering the ongoing investigation.
