Updating St. Vital’s indoor arenas

St. Vital

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/07/2023 (879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During the last week of June, the City announced new investments into the two indoor ice arenas in the St Vital ward — those at Glenwood Community Centre and the St. Vital Arena. The ice at Dakota and Southdale community centres is well used by St. Vital residents, but there are both outside St. Vital ward.

The arena at Glenwood CC (formally known as Moffat Arena) will receive an $82,000 grant from the city to upgrade its underground piping in order to keep ice in at the arena for 12 months, instead of 10 months at present.

The city also announced that from June 20 to July 20 the St Vital Arena will undergo a $115,000 mould abatement project, focusing on the wooden ceiling.

The grant to Glenwood adds to a provincial government grant , and some money from the community centre itself. The funds will also cover electronic upgrades, a second dehumidifier and a new, larger condenser. This is the fourth major investment in the Glenwood rink since I was first elected in 2011. Back in 2013, I joined St. Boniface MP Shelly Glover and St. Vital MLA Nancy Allan in a $400,000 grant to bring better heating and humidity control into the arena. I later used $10,500 in ward funds to purchase a new score clock, and in 2020 I was pleased to combine money from the city budget and some ward funds totalling $104,000 for new arena glass.

St. Vital Arena has similarly been the recipient of four major investments during my period as a councillor. In 2018 we announced the completion of a $400,000 city investment, highlighted by a new Zamboni and modernizing the change rooms (then-Coun. Scott Gillingham, a rec hockey player, told me the change-room upgrades eliminated a problem with scalding hot showers). In 2020, the city and province invested $40,000 in exterior upgrades. In 2022, the city made major upgrades to the ice-making plant with a grant of $210,000 for computer control improvements.

I was never much of a hockey player, but I have skated at these arenas, cheered on high school hockey and watched my sons take skating lessons. They are an important part of the St. Vital community, and I am pleased to help ensure they will be serving the public for years to come.