Regarding the Courier's Sept. 7 story "Stanley Cup riot bill creeps toward $2 million." The bill so far to city taxpayers for the riot-ruined Stanley Cup fan zone is $1,968,613. City council approved withdrawing $1 million from its rainy day fund Sept. 6. Half the cost was already absorbed by existing departmental budgets, said a staff report. The report said $466,804 in extra costs are directly related to the June 15 riot, including $163,250 for additional officers (not including the cost of ongoing investigations), $145,000 for damage to police assets and $92,750 in damaged items, including fences, portable toilets and TV screens. The city spent $608,009 on the fan zone, all but $22,458 was during the seven-game Stanley Cup final. Police overtime costs during the final game ate up $741,529 of the total $893,800 playoff bill. The policing bill was almost $250,000 more than the city's original estimate. The city has still not disclosed contracts with suppliers. One of them was Brand Live Group, which was hired to manage the site just two days before the final began June 1.
