With some repairs coming up for the community's old hockey arena, the City of Port Alberni wants to take a close look at the building and determine whether it's more financially viable to demolish it or save it.
But a number of community members are less than happy about the city's communication process when it comes to the building.
Members of the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society (IHS), which operates the Industrial Heritage Centre inside of the old arena, said that they were blindsided by results from a facility condition assessment, which shows that the building will need approximately $2 million in repairs over the next five years.
They were further surprised to see on the Jan. 14 committee of the whole agenda a recommendation to "explore" the demolition of the building.
"The way this has happened is not very kosher," Ron Corbeil, IHS president, told the committee on Jan. 14. "We had members today working on projects and wondering ‘why even bother?’”
Along with the Industrial Heritage Centre, the building is also home to the Alberni Valley Curling Club and the Sunshine Club, which operates a woodworking facility there. Corbeil says this represents a membership of more than 300 people.
“The people take darn good care of these facilities,” said Corbeil. “What I would hope is council would direct staff to come back to the three groups and look at ways of developing some of the things that could make this better.”
Other members of the public also stepped up to share their support for the IHS. One resident, Kennedy Crneck, said she found the city's lack of communication "appalling," especially as a landlord communicating with its tenants.
“They have a right to that [communication],” said Crneck.
Larry Bonnar, a curler with the Alberni Valley Curling Club, said that his club didn't have any consultation with the city.
“We just invested $200,000 in curling equipment,” he said. “If we’d known that you were going to do this, we wouldn’t have invested that money in the building. Where’s the transparency here?”
Another resident, Pat Kermeen, was similarly "shocked" to hear that the city was considering demolition.
“Seniors have given so much to repair all that equipment and have it in such a good display," she said. She suggested that the city needs to consider the value of tourism. "We have a lot of people who go through here, but we don’t stop them to say, ‘Have you seen all the things that are available in this community?’”
Members of council emphasized on Jan. 14 that no decisions have been made about the building yet.
"This is just the start of a conversation," said Councillor Dustin Dame, who was acting as committee chair on Tuesday.
Mayor Sharie Minions added that demolition of the building is just one of “many” options for the former hockey arena.
Councillor Charles Mealey, who is the city's representative on the Heritage Commission, said that the city wouldn't be considering demolition until 2029 at the earliest.
“Until [2029] we have time to see what is the best use and how we can fix the roof and make that the best facility possible," he said.
However, Coun. Debbie Haggard pointed out that $2 million dollars worth of upgrades over the next five years could amount to an eight or nine percent tax increase for Port Alberni residents.
“The message that council keeps getting from the public is that their taxes are too high and it is a very difficult tax year, so we’re looking to cut wherever we can,” she said. “Are the taxpayers willing to pay that kind of increase to keep a 62-year-old building open?”
The committee recommended working with current tenants at the building to address budget items and other issues identified in the facility condition assessment.
The committee also recommended that city staff explore the timeline and financial implications of three different options for the building: demolition, transfer of ownership or lease at market rates.
