Haldimand "Have Your Say about a New Arena"

You can go to http://www.dunnvillechronicle.ca/ and have your say in regards to an Arena in Dunnville, there is also a poll.

County talks arena fundraising
Posted By KAREN BEST, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Feb 6, 2009

Twenty-four. That's how many days will pass before we know if a new Dunnville or a new Cayuga arena is recommended by Haldimand County staff.

At council's committee meeting on March 2, community services general manager Hugh Hanly will table the long-awaited arena report. Money will be a central theme but may take on a different look if the county can access federal government recreation funding.

In its 2009 budget, the Conservative government announced a $500 million Recreational Infrastructure Canada fund. The two-year program will provide financing toward new recreational facilities and repairs for existing community buildings.

"This is an opportunity for us especially if two new arenas are needed," points out Coun. Lorne Boyko. While $500 million is not a lot for the entire country, he notes that two weeks earlier there was no federal funding available.

Coun. Buck Sloat, who represents Cayuga, says it would be great to receive 50 per cent funding for two new arenas.

"We certainly will be applying for this, from this councillor's perspective," he said. "The Cayuga arena is shovel-ready to go. All we need is an engineer's plan and templates exist (for that)."

Last spring, a consultant recommended the county replace the two aging facilities and estimated new single pad arenas will cost at least $8 million each.

Before and since that announcement, the Dunnville Arena and Sport Project group and the Cayuga Think Rink committee have been fundraising and gathering support.

At the end of January, Hanly and leisure services manager Rick Lane met with the groups to talk about fundraising targets.

Details were not disclosed but the Dunnville group tabled its goal at a Jan. 21 meeting and told Hanly it was achievable.

The information gathered from both groups will be used to create financial models and will give a better idea when a project can commence, notes Hanly.

For the final research piece, community services personnel talked to construction firms about costs and have investigated real estate values for land, he adds.

Council has directed staff to do something with the two facilities and after they make a decision, then location will be discussed, says Hanly.

For the Dunnville group, Ramsay Drive remains their site of choice. So far 3,231 people have submitted forms indicating they support this location. An arena committee member said most of the petition forms were clipped from an advertisement in The Chronicle. Some were taken from another local newspaper.

According to the county's chief administrative officer, the report will be based on the premise that any new construction will be financed by the municipality. Don Boyle also said that report can easily be amended if federal financing is secured.

"I fully support investing in recreation facilities," he stated. "There are a lot of county priorities, Ultimately it will be council's decision."

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