The B.C. Pavilion Corp spent $263,000 in a failed effort to negotiate a $40-million naming rights deal for BC Place with Telus, according to figures provided by the provincial government.

In March the B.C. Liberals killed the proposal to rename the stadium “Telus Park”, saying it didn’t think people would appreciate losing such a valued name as BC Place. The decision stunned both Telus and PavCo, which had worked on the deal for two years as part of an exhaustive effort to help defray costs on the $563-million refurbishment of the stadium, including a new retractable roof.

But the lengths to which PavCo, a Crown corporation that operates both the stadium and Vancouver Convention Centre, had gone to secure the sponsorship deal was not known until Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell recently revealed the cost to New Democratic Party MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert in a letter.

The letter, which Herbert provided to The Vancouver Sun this week, also included other financial information showing PavCo has so far spent more than $173,000 trying to settle a festering dispute over another government venture, the new Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre at the convention centre.

The $22-million float plane base, which was built by a private consortium owned by the Ledcor and Clarke groups of companies, has so far been largely unused after they were unable to convince several commercial airlines to move in because of questions over the safety of the centre’s floats. The consortium is now in the middle of a lawsuit involving the government and Harbour Air, the largest of the airlines.

In his letter Bell told Herbert that PavCo spent $211,000 last year on “legal and negotiation costs” relating to the Telus naming deal. It also paid Deloitte & Touche $51,000 for a “naming rights review” and Spectrum Marketing $1,000 for consultation on the project.

Bell also outlined the growing costs of the float plane dispute. He said PavCo has so far paid $71,000 for engineering studies on the docks and $68,000 for the services of mediator Dan Doyle. Another $34,000 was spent to review an incident in which a Harbour Air float plane partly sank at a VHFC dock during a test. The review ultimately concluded that the dock wasn’t a factor in the sinking and laid the blame on Harbour Air for water ingress into the aircraft’s floats.

Doyle was brought in last year to try to broker a deal between VHFC and disgruntled float plane operators led by Harbour Air who continue to use a temporary terminal of their own nearby. The plan had been to consolidate all commercial float plane operators in the harbour, but Harbour Air and the others objected to paying commercial user fees to VHFC. They subsequently complained the floats were too exposed to wave action and were unsafe.

The flight centre has since launched legal action against both the seaplane operators and PavCo, which has refused to insist the airlines move over until it is convinced the docks are safe.

Herbert said he was surprised at the costs outlined by the minister.