The Village of Port Alice may see the reopening of the Doug Bondue Arena soon.
Natalie Stewart, a member of the Port Alice Arena Society, sent a request to mayor and council asking for a letter of support to open the arena after applying for various funding applications.
“At this time there are a few opportunities for funding,” the letter read. “We would like council’s support in applying for these funds. The applications will be completed and submitted by the society, but we’d like add a letter of support.”
Stewart expects to reach $75,000 by the end of this year. She also expects to reach $150,000 in total to keep the arena open for community activities. Acting Chief Administrative Officer/Finance Officer Bonnie Danyk recommended reaching $100,000 before opening the arena. According to the CAO, there are Worksafe BC and Technical Safety BC concerns that have to be dealt with before the village can open the arena.
The society intends to provide all the funds to reopen the arena while the village works on remedial funds.
“Some of the money has to include capital costs, so we’d like help to obtain some of the improvements that can be made if the funding is granted. This funding opportunity is 100 per cent funding so no financial commitment would have to be made by the village,” the letter continued. “The arena is important to so many of the families in town for us to stand by not making an effort to operate without a facility.” The Port Alice preschool, Lions Club, Oldtimers hockey, dry graduation, Port Alice minor hockey, and other groups depend heavily on the arena to keep up the level of services these groups provide to our town.”
Near the end of the discussion on the letter, mayor and council decided to go ahead with a letter of support with the condition that the society can reach $100,000 to reopen the arena.
The village has made no financial commitment to the society.
The arena closure is tied to lack of funding due to a shortfall caused by the community’s pulp mill failure to pay its taxes.
Stewart was not available for a comment yet. The Gazette will update this story once she responds.