If you plan to visit Erickson Arena in Chatham or Bothwell Arena this winter, you'll want to bring your running shoes instead of ice skates.
On Monday night council voted in favour of converting the two arenas from December 2020 to March 2021 into a multipurpose facility to accommodate pickleball, indoor soccer, volleyball and ball hockey.
Municipal staff made the recommendation in hopes of making the arena facilities more financially viable. Currently, the municipality’s 10 arenas are operating at a deficit $235,867 per month due to declining ice rental. According to staff, repurposing Erikson and Bothwell arenas will provide an estimated operational savings of $164,000 due to decreased operational costs including energy savings and an anticipated increase in user revenue for the indoor activities.
However, not all councillors were in support of the idea.
East Kent Councillor Steve Pinsonneault asserted that the community of Bothwell had been "blindsided" by the recommendation and were under the impression that arena service in Chatham-Kent would remain status quo throughout the winter.
Pinsonneault said taking the ice out of Bothwell Arena would have a crippling effect on it and he urged his fellow councillors not to support the repurposing idea.
"This year has been like no other one and if they don't remain open, the user groups will be gone forever, which next year [staff] will come and tell us that there's no usage. At the end of 2021, the arena will close. This recommendation may not effect Chatham but it will affect Bothwell, you can guarantee that," said Pinsonneault.
According to staff, Bothwell Arena was selected because of low confirmed ice usage.
Councillor Melissa Harrigan took issue with the fact that ice user groups in Bothwell hadn't been consulted about the idea. Manager of Parks and Open Spaces Jeff Bray said the plan was to reach out to the user groups if the motion passed. However, Harrigan said she was concerned that the process was being done backwards.
"As a councillor, I would rather staff consult with stakeholders connected to some of these facilities before I make my decision so that I know that [staff knows] what the community is thinking," said Harrigan. "It seems like tonight we're being asked to make a decision and then find out about what the community thinks of that situation."
Councillor Mark Authier put forward a motion to refer the report back to staff to allow for public consultation. However, Authier's motion was voted down 53 per cent to 47 per cent.
"I think functionally if we're referring it back, we're really just kicking it too far down the road to make it useable...I can certainly speak to the situation in Ward 6 and there's a number of organizations that can't find indoor space anywhere and would be very happy to see Erickson Arena repurposed... I think we're misrepresenting this as something bad in the community when it really is an opportunity during this pandemic to do something temporary to offer people more options to be active," said Councillor Brock McGregor. "I think if we refer this back and don't make a decision tonight, we're really doing a disservice to a lot of people who could get some great use out of these facilities."
Councillors voted separately on the repurposing of each arena. For Erickson Arena, council voted in favour of the repurposing 82 per cent to 18 per cent. However, the decision was drastically more split when it came to Bothwell Arena. Ultimately, the repurposing of Bothwell Arena was approved 53 per cent to 47 per cent.