Consensus reached to construct new curling rink next to H.W. Fish Arena

Kevin Laliberte
Smoky River Express

The new proposed McLennan curling rink is on the move yet again. A mutual consensus was reached Sept. 26 by the McLennan Curling Club to locate the multi-million dollar facility next to H.W. Fish Arena on the west side. The decision, which came in the form of a motion and received no opposition, was made following a meeting at the Town Conference Centre involving local curling club members, McLennan Local Recreation Board, town officials and representatives from both SLR Group and NewGen Building Systems Inc. “We have to view the location of this project realistically in terms of cost-effectiveness,” said Rita L’Heureux, co-president of the curling club. Her comments came after careful consideration of an earlier recommendation to erect the facility on municipally-owned land southeast of the ball diamonds. But that proposal eventually slipped through the cracks as a possibility among those in attendance after weighing the pros and cons. One of the biggest disadvantages discussed in relation to locating the curling rink next to the ball diamonds hinged on the additional expense of bringing in core services such as gas, power, water and sewage. “Obviously, there would be some significant added costs involved,” said L’Hereux, noting that keeping costs to a minimum is a critical part of the overall planning process. Backing up that statement was McLennan Councillor Dwayne Stout, who pegged the price tag of expanding services to include a lift station at approximately $500,000. Stakeholders directly involved with the project selected the land near the ball diamonds as the most suitable location for the new curling rink earlier this year following a closed door meeting. That recommendation was made based on space availability and the eventual need to construct a new arena in the community. “The life expectancy of our arena is roughly 10 years,” Stout acknowledged at last week’s meeting. Don Regier, president of the McLennan Local Recreation Board, said determining the location of the curling complex boiled down to two things: long-term vision and anticipated growth of the community in conjunction with plans by Peace River Oil to built a $1.4-billion upgrader at Kathleen versus dollars. Offering her thoughts on the matter was curling club member Collette Whelen, who erred on the side of caution by indicating there are no guarantees for a population explosion. “I don’t think anyone here tonight can say with any degree of certainty what will or won’t happen with the upgrader project. My personal opinion is to build for today, next to the arena,” she explained. Making the arena block an attractive option as the most suitable location for the project is its close proximity to the arena and the ability to combine a new arena with the curling complex as one multi-purpose complex at some point in the future. “It also eliminates the expense of having to purchase a condenser unit for cooling purposes,” said curling club co-president Barry Whelen, adding that the recently installed new arena condenser is capable of providing services to both facilities. Having a final say in the decision to house the facility next to the arena is McLennan town council, which could finalize the proposal by as early as next month.