Two city councillors from the Valley want to see whether closing the area's two arenas in favour of a new, two-pad rink makes economic sense.
A motion by Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre at Monday's community services committee meeting directed staff to prepare a business case to see what the details would be. The arenas in question – Centennial Arena in Hanmer and the Raymond Plourde Arena in Val Caron – were both built in the early 1970s.
According to a staff report presented Monday, the arenas will require about $3 million in renovations over the next decade.
With that in mind, Lapierre said it may make sense to build a single facility with two ice pads.
“We're already spending so much renovating these facilities,” he said.
And they have been told many times that it's cheaper in the long run to operate one arena with two ice pads, than two separate arenas.
Ward 5 Coun. Bob Kirwan said residents in the area are open to the idea.
“There's significant interest in the community for this,” Kirwan said. “I don't think it will look that grim when we get the business case.”
But Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer, while supporting the idea, wondered why the business case would be limited to the Valley. There may be other areas of the city in a similar position, and he was concerned about proceeding in a piecemeal fashion.
“It's a great idea,” Sizer said.
“I don't know if we can do it in isolation … We have to look at the whole city.
“I'm not being difficult, I just want to make sure we're not spending our money foolishly.”
But Kirwan said the situation in the Valley is unique, and he's concerned that a relatively simple process could turn into a protracted one where nothing gets done.
“You eat an elephant one bite at a time,” he said. “In the Valley, we're ready for this. I don't want to see this get caught in a great big study.”
“If it comes out as too expensive, so be it.”
And Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac said it's worth it if they can find ways to operate the arenas more efficiently.
“If it means looking at closing, revamping, why not look at it?” Dutrisac said. “It's important to have a vision.”
