Lethbridge Minute: Arena Naming, Rent Increases and Airshow Association Dissolving

Lethbridge Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Lethbridge politics

This Week In Lethbridge:

• Council is on summer vacation until September, so there are no meetings at City Hall this week.
  
  
• The ENMAX Centre is now the “VisitLethbridge.com Arena” after the Lethbridge Lodging Association (LLA) secured naming rights. The five-year sponsorship deal with the City of Lethbridge is valued at $150,000 annually, totaling $750,000. The LLA gets taxpayer funding, but claims to be using their other sources of income for the sponsorship.
  
  
• A major water infrastructure project on 11 Street South, which started in May, is nearing completion. The watermain installation is done up to 6 Avenue, with paving expected to finish next week. The intersection of 11 Street South and 6 Avenue South will close starting this morning at 9:00 am, with detours for traffic. Two lanes on 6 Avenue South will reopen briefly on August 20th for the Whoop-Up Days Parade and Mayor’s Breakfast before closing again that evening.

Last Week In Lethbridge:

• The Lethbridge International Airshow Association (LIAA) has announced that the 2023 airshow was its last, as the Association will be dissolving. The decision was made due to challenges such as rising costs, difficulties in securing funding and performers, legal complexities, and a lack of volunteer support. The Airshow had been operating for 20 years.
  
  
• Lethbridge is now the fifth-fastest rising community in Canada for rent increases. Rental prices in the city have surged over the past year. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now $1,402 per month, a 19.5% increase from last year. Two-bedroom homes are renting for an average of $1,525 per month, up 10.4% over the past year. The University of Lethbridge is also facing high demand for dorm rooms, with a waitlist unlikely to clear before the fall semester begins.
  
  
• Bridget Mearns and Rob Miyashiro have both announced their intentions to seek the Alberta NDP nomination for the Lethbridge-West by-election. You might recognize those names as both Mearns and Miyashiro are former City Councillors. Mearns ran for Mayor in 2021 and Miyashiro is the Executive Director of the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization. The NDP’s nomination meeting will take place on September 7th, 2024.

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