The City of Winkler gave 1st reading last week to a borrowing by-law for the anticipated rehabilitation and improvement project at the Centennial Arena.

City Council has been planning for and working towards this project for several years.

"When we finished the Meridian Exhibition Centre, the new sheet of ice, before that, we were hoping to have a bigger arena built then," shared Deputy Mayor Andrew Froese. He said the city couldn't afford a larger arena at that time. 

"So we added that second sheet in the turf facility, which has been successful. There's been a lot of use of both of those, which we're happy to see."

Even at that point when the Meridian Exhibition Centre opened, Froese said they knew the Centennial Arena would need a renovation at some point. 

After the project was complete, Froese said they applied for grants hoping to get something to renovate the aging Centennial Arena. He says they were very pleased to receive a Federal grant for just under $8 million. However, they had two other major projects on the books to consider first, the regional wastewater facility and water treatment plant expansion.

"It had some safety issues and efficiency issues, including asbestos removal that needs to happen and various other building conditions that needed to be improved, including our ice plant. It had to be repaired three times this year, and one of the times it forced the move of the Flyers to a different sheet of ice. That system and the pipes underneath the ice sheet have also been leaking. So that arena is very tired," said Froese. 
    
The wastewater project and water treatment plant expansion projects came in on budget, allowing Council to open the borrowing By-Law.

The by-law is for $7.5 million, which is part of the City’s current $12.65 million portion of the project. The City has applied for further grants and is hoping for announcements to be made soon, which could include an additional $2.5 million grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

"We needed to make sure that we were prudent with our funds, that we weren't just going to go borrow money and then find out that the arena borrowing would hinder us from being able to build the wastewater treatment plant. So, we needed to wait for the tenders to close on the water treatment plant expansion and the wastewater plant to pass this borrowing by-law."  

The by-law will now be sent to the Municipal Board for approval, and then it will come back to City Council for 2nd and 3rd reading.

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