Concern in Sydney the city is on the sidelines when it comes to competing for big events

Centre 200 in Sydney is home to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Cape Breton Eagles.Their owner wants to host the Memorial Cup, junior hockey’s biggest prize in the country, but he’s been told not to bid for it.

“The big thing I was told was not to apply because of the current condition of our building,” said Irwin Simon, Cape Breton Eagles owner.

Construction of Cape Breton’s largest arena began in 1985 – and opened two years later.

There have been renovations done to the building over the years, but Simon feels much more is needed.

“I’m here to invest in the team. I’m here to invest in Centre 200, if it made sense along with government and I’m here to invest in bringing a winning team to Cape Breton,” said Simon.

A new scoreboard and sound system for the facility is in the works.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is looking at naming rights for the building to try and generate more revenue.

“We need to create more revenue to be able to invest in the facility and in my personal opinion we should strongly look at an outside party to do that,” said Eldon MacDonald, CBRM Councillor.

The building will host the 2024 World Women’s Curling Championship next March.

“We have a plan and have been working on one for three or four years. We’re working with our funding partners and with the municipality. There is a commitment and I think Mr. Simon would like to see it sooner rather than later, but things take time,” said Paul MacDonald, Centre 200 Manager.

On the ice the Cape Breton Eagles has its own struggles and are currently looking for their fourth head coach in two years.

Winning has also been a problem, but Simon is hoping to change that.

“We really attracted some great draft choices and are going to be a team to contend with over the next two years,” said Simon.

The cost of upgrades needed is between $10 to $15 million.