The Downtown Brantford BIA is bullish on the Bulldogs.
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“Having a sports team in town has a tremendous impact not only on the city but on the downtown in particular,” Barbara Sutherland, chair of the BIA (Business Improvement Area), said. “People wander around, they eat in the restaurants and in our case, we’re hoping they’ll start to explore more of our downtown.
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“I know the restaurants are benefiting from the Bulldogs being here.”
The city earlier this year reached an agreement to bring the Bulldogs from Hamilton for three seasons with three one-year extensions. The Bulldogs attracted a capacity crowd at its home opener in October and the game marked the return of OHL hockey to Brantford after a 40-year absence. The team’s home games regularly attract in the neighborhood of 3,000 fans and the season so far has been successful with the Bulldogs fighting for first place in their division.
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Daryl Daggett, owner of Hudson Public at 93 Dalhousie St., adjacent to Harmony Square, said his restaurant has seen an uptick in business since the arrival of the Bulldogs.
“The Brantford Bulldogs have brought new energy into our city,” Daggett said. “At Hudson Public, we’re seeing a lot of positive traffic on game days, both before and after the game.
“We’re even having consistent groups coming in to watch the game on our televisions in similar numbers that we see for NHL or NFL games.”
Daggett said it’s exciting from a business and personal perspective.
“Brantford has embraced this team as their very own in instant fashion,” Daggett said. “It’s brought a contagious boost of pride and camaraderie along with it.”
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Sutherland said the BIA and its members got on the Bulldogs bandwagon soon after it was announced the team was coming to Brantford.
“I know the team has a lot of fans and I know a lot of merchants have put Bulldogs stickers on their doors,” Sutherland said. “We put up ‘Welcome to Downtown Brantford Bulldogs’ banners along Market Street.”
Sutherland said the BIA has “embraced everything Bulldogs.”
However, the Downtown BIA hasn’t yet taken a position on a proposed new sports and entertainment center.
Developing a proposal for a new arena is part of the deal that brought the Bulldogs to Brantford.
The plan, made public in December, calls for a new arena with a capacity for 5,300 people to be built beside the existing civic center at a cost of $115 million to $140 million. Under the plan, the civic center, would remain in place and serve as a practice facility and be available to Brantford minor sports teams.
“It’s still early days,” Sutherland said about the proposal. “It (the plan) was presented at a public meeting just before Christmas and we haven’t had time yet to measure the feelings of our members.
“That’s a conversation for another day.”
Meanwhile, BIA officials are putting the finishing touches on an action plan for 2024.
Sutherland said she expects the plan will be made public sometime in February.
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