Plans are moving forward for a twin pad arena and indoor multi-sport complex.
A motion presented by Councillor Brock McGregor caps any municipal contribution at $18.5 million.
The proposed facility could include a maximum 4000 seat arena with a 200-seat secondary rink, but McGregor says anything beyond the architectural and design phase will be dependent on funding from upper levels of government as well as private contributions.
McGregor says the proposal puts the onus on the community to put their money where their mouth is.
“I think it’s a different approach to take on trying to fund something through the community, it’s not really just approving a total cost and saying ‘hey, you mind chipping in a few dollars,'” McGregor says. “It’s really saying if this is something that’s really important to the community, if there’s opportunities for sponsorship, it’s going ot make the project better. It’s a little different way than we normally do things, but I think in this type of climate that’s what we have to do to be responsible.”
The vote on the revised plan passed 13-4, with Councillors Michael Bondy, Doug Sulman, Steve Pinsonneault, and John Wright voting against.
Thomas Kelly, Chatham-Kent’s General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services says administration has its work cut out for it.
“Administration’s next step is to go out, hire an architectural firm and also start to look at land to support the motion that was made.”
Kelly says the challenge right now is that funding opportunities from the federal and provincial governments haven’t been announced yet.
“We expect it to be coming out later this year, but once it hits, we have only eight weeks to turn it around. And in that time we have to provide a sketch, we have to provide detailed costs, there’s a significant amount of work to do before we can even fill out the application.”
Kelly says without funding from upper levels of government, the municipality will maintain the status quo or simply renovate some of the existing facilities.
In the meantime, upgrades to the washrooms at Memorial Arena, which had been put on the back burner pending last night’s vote, will now move forward in the hopes of being complete in time for next fall’s hockey season.
