Liquor Licence Application for UBC Stadium
Sign popped up announcing 30 day consultation for 15,000 person ubc liquor licence
At least one sign has popped up in Hawthorn Place announcing a 30 day consultative period for UBC Athletics’ primary event driven liquor licence for the football stadium. Athletics holds occasional events with liquor at the football stadium. Up until now, those events were held with special events permits. UBC Athletics wants to change this process. As one UBC official said “this isn’t a change of operation, nor increase to capacity.” This is a change to make liquor sales at events not contingent upon an application for a special events permit licence for each event.
When I first saw the sign I thought is was a satirical art installation. UBC does have a history of playful artistic interventions into culture and politics. The lack of information was in part responsible for the spoof impression. Unlike most of UBC Campus and Community Planning signs there was very little information included on the sign. Except for what at first blush seemed to be an alarmingly large number of clients “15,506 persons” who might attend a single event. The specific location was not named (it’s actually the football stadium). The street address helped ensure it wasn’t the St John’s Hospice requesting the liquor license, but it took a moment to parse that out. My misconception was corrected by AVP Campus Community Planning Michael White who assured me this was indeed a real liquor licence application.
According to Michael White:
“This application is for the Thunderbird Stadium and being pursued by UBC Athletics and Recreation. Currently, Thunderbird Stadium does not have a liquor primary license. This means Athletics and Recreation has to apply for a special event permit every time they hold an event at the stadium where alcohol is served. An event driven liquor primary license will create operational efficiencies for Stadium-related event management but will not result in any changes to what currently happens at events in terms of liquor service.”
UBC does have a spotted history with large events with liquor. To be fair our society has a spotted history with liquor and public events. UBC’s particular intersection of large numbers of people segregated into age grades does create ongoing issues. We have large events regularly with spill over adverse effects. As recently as 2009 the RCMP Detachment felt compelled to withhold their support of liquor licensing at the local hockey arena.
The RCMP University Detachment does object to the proposed amendments. The expansion of the current licensed area into the seating area of two arenas within the Centre should be restricted to a much smaller size and leave the majority of seating for those who do not wish to consume alcoholic beverages. With respect to the proposal for the addition of patios which would be used primarily during special events and the extension of hours of liquor service (which, depending on the event may be within the hours of 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.), these proposals will only tend to further erode the quality of life for persons residing in the area by increasing the social disorder, especially late at night. These amendments should be reconsidered and the hours of operation reduced, i.e. the patio to 10 p.m. and overall liquor service to 1 a.m.
Recommendations: It is my belief that the UBC Athletics Department is moving too fast with their planned events at Thunderbird Centre, especially music concerts; and that profit is the main objective rather than ensuring that community interests are taken into consideration and looked after now and in the future. I have suggested to UBC that they give serious consideration as to whether or not they want to continue with these types of music concerts, with emphasis on how these concerts benefit the UBC student population and/or local residents. UBC Thunderbird Centre Management should be looking at getting events working properly. What I would like to see is for UBC to rethink their plans around use of Thunderbird Centre, get their house in order and develop an operational plan including how they propose to manage alcohol and drug problems and overall security, policing concerns and issues that will arise inside/outside the Centre. I cannot support this Application without such a plan in place.
The independent student blog, UBC Insiders covered the events that led to the liquor problems in two posts: “Did the Killers Kill the Liquor at the Thunderbird Arena?” and “Yes, The Killers Killed the Liquor at Thunderbird Arena.”
More than a decade has gone by and one hopes that UBC Athletics has indeed gotten “their house in order.”
As the RCMP noted, large events with liquor require planning and additional staffing on the part of the police. UBC’s own security will also have contingency plans in place. The venue management also needs effective plans to ensure they minimize adverse effects on residential communities. In response to my question about safety plans and where liquor is sold in the stadium, James Tait, Senior Manager Facility Maintenance, Athletics and Recreation, shared the following via email May 31, 2023:
All events in the stadium, over a capacity of 1000, have an event operations plan developed, that includes but is not limited to, planning for
The Safe access and egress of spectators
Ticketing plans to manage and control capacities
Staffing and deployment plans to ensure safety with in the facility
Command, control and communication plans to help manage any situation that arise
Emergency management and evacuation plans ( based on the stadium’s existing Emergency Response Plan )
Spectator medical based on event profile
Traffic management in the area if required
Plans for these events are shared and reviewed by the Film & Events department of C&CP, the RCMP and other emergency services
There are standard operation procedures in place for events under that #, that have been share in the past with the above bodies
Re Liquor sales we have one built in concession stand with in the stadium it self, we also have temporary sales units that can be moved to various locations depending on the event profile
All communications from UBC state nothing is changing from what they already do except no longer having to ask BC Liquor Control Board for review and permission prior to each large event with liquor.
Carole Jolly, Director of Community Development and Engagement shared this additional background context via email May 31, 2023:
We have been in touch with our colleagues at Athletics and Recreation who have provided some additional context below, which the community may also be interested in (we will also provide this information to the UNA to disseminate through their channels):
This application is for Thunderbird Stadium (for extra clarity this is the turf field stadium – not the ice rink)
Previously, events at Thunderbird Stadium have operated under Special Event Permits (SEP)
UBC was encouraged by the LCRB to apply for a permanent, event based license as they are looking to move established venues away from using SEPs on a regular basis
The liquor license application for the stadium is not a change in the current Stadium capacity or scope, nor is it a change in how events are operated and managed
This is an administrative change moving towards operational efficiencies for the department and for the University
Impact to residents will remain unchanged due to this administrative change
All events with liquor service are subject to compliance with the regulations and policies of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act
A&R meet regularly and work closely with the RCMP, Fire, EMS and other external agencies and internal departments (UBC Parking, Campus Security, C&CP, etc.) on event planning and delivery
A&R currently owns and operates 3 permanent liquor primary event based licenses: War Memorial Gym, Doug Mitchell Arena, Gerald McGavin Rugby Pavilion
Renting sporting facilities for off campus event organizers is a significant source of revenue for UBC Recreation and Athletics. Liquor sales at these events significantly increases facilities revenue. Reducing the uncertainty of special event permit approval clearly adds greater economic certainty in that UBC Athletics will be able to guarantee liquor sales when previously it remained contingent on each specific event application.
This is all to say there was a lot left off the sign on Stadium Road.
This is a good one! Am I correct in saying that it's the LCRB (BC's alcohol control bureaucracy) that's responsible for the sign (it's content)? Nevertheless, I find the RCMP's response from 2009 revealing. Is the community subordinate to the RCMP, or is it the other way around? There's quite some history to contend with!
While there may well be community resistance to expanding access to alcohol, do they need the RCMP paternalising them by expressing it on their behalf? And "policing concerns", expressed by the police!? I know colonial and capitalist norms include externalising all sorts of things, but this is particularly brazen.
I'm not ignoring the social consequences of alcohol consumption, just how we manage our community.