Councillors in the Municipality of Bluewater received a presentation Monday night on the final findings of the Bayfield Arena Feasibility Study.
Todd Brown, president of Monteith and Brown Planning Consultants, which conducted the study, said that during the study period from 2015 to 2017, the community voiced the desire to keep the Bayfield facility and ice pad, and that had to be taken into account.
The study determined that based on lower than average use for the ice in the three Bluewater arenas in Bayfield, Zurich and Hensall, the municipality really only needs two ice pads.
Five options were presented for the Bayfield Arena future, including maintaining status quo; having an outside partner maintain the ice; converting the arena to an indoor recreation and activity facility; making the facility a special event facility only; or decommissioning the facility, which council immediately shot down.
Council moved to have a public meeting at a later date to allow other stakeholders to explain their proposals.