Province announces $5M for Lorette arena

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This article was published 23/08/2024 (712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Wab Kinew’s government made good on a $5-million campaign promise Friday to help the RM of Taché pay for a new community centre.

“Last fall, we were here to make a commitment to people in Lorette and Taché, and to say if we formed government we would commit $5 million to get the new arena built here,” Kinew said at a news conference outside the aging rink in Lorette Friday morning.

The NDP candidate for Dawson Trail, Chris Wiebe, didn’t unseat Progressive Conservative incumbent MLA Bob Lagasse in the Oct. 3 election, but the NDP won enough seats to oust the PCs from government.

“We decided to come back here and make good on a commitment,” Kinew said. “It’s about strengthening communities and making sure our kids have the recreational opportunities they deserve,” he told the gathering that included RM of Taché Mayor Armand Poirier.

Poirier called the funding “a pivotal moment in the journey towards building the Taché Community Centre.” Its estimated price tag is $29.5 million, the mayor said.

The $5 million is in addition to the $3.6 million pledged by the province in 2023 when the PCs were in power, as well as $4.4 million from the federal government. While the RM and local communities have raised funds for the centre, the municipality has the ability to borrow up to $6 million for the recreation complex, Poirier said.

The Taché Community Centre will provide area residents a place to gather and participate in a variety of recreation and sociocultural activities, the province said in a news release.

It will include a 62,000-square-foot arena with spectator seating, an 8,000-square-foot library, a multipurpose space for seniors, a two-lane walking track, as well as meeting, conference and media rooms.

The municipality is taking care to make sure the project stays within its budget, Poirier said.

It is expected to go to tender later this year and be completed by the spring of 2026.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca