Mile One pledges to keep closer eye on dressing room drinking

Mile One Centre in St. John's will be stepping up its efforts to ensure its locker rooms remain dry ones, says Coun. Sandy Hickman.

"We have made it very clear, no booze allowed in change rooms," he told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show, adding the rule hasn't been strictly policed in the past.

"It is not a regimented thing, so there may indeed be of course people who would have over the years had the opportunity to consume some beverages."

The efforts come in the wake of the Stephenville arena's efforts to curtail alcohol in its dressing rooms, citing concerns that hockey players were drinking and then driving home.

Not a big problem in the big city

With so many entertainment and sporting events at the St. John's arena, Hickman said Mile One doesn't host a lot of recreational hockey games where post-game boozing would occur.

"There's never been a serious problem, no, that we've taken action on," he said.

But arena staff also haven't been checking hockey bags or dressing rooms for evidence, either.

"There's a level of trust, there's a level of invasion of privacy. It is a dressing room and people shouldn't really be intruding in dressing rooms, I don't think," said Hickman, pledging that anyone caught with booze will be penalized, possibly by being kicked off the premises or the hockey league in question losing its rental rights.

"We will take action."