Terry Sawchuk Arena to reopen this fall

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This article was published 07/07/2020 (2204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Terry Sawchuk Arena will operate for the 2020-2021 winter season after Winnipeg City Council approved the move at its June 26 meeting.

On March 23, 2020, while discussing the 2020-2023 operating budget, council directed municipal staff to seek third-party organizations to operate the arena via a lease or management agreement. Selling the site was not considered due to the arena being in a landfill control zone.

The rink was closed for the 2019-2020 season after mould was discovered throughout the facility. While air quality tests showed no immediate risk, the arena was closed as a precautionary measure so the mould issue could be

Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) said a lower than expected mould remediation cost was one factor in the decision.

“There were different estimates as to what the cost of the mould remediation was going to be, and some of the numbers kept getting fairly large, (to) several hundred thousand dollars,” he explained.

The final tab came in at under $125,000 so, given expected operating revenue from the rink,  reopening the Terry Sawchuk Arena became feasible.

Browaty welcomed the decision, as he believes there is still some life left in the old barn.

“Compared to some of the other arenas we own and operate, it’s in better condition,” he said.

“They’ve redone the parking lot, they’ve redone the rink boards and the ice plant isn’t that new but it isn’t that old.”

Browaty said the City of Winnipeg is speaking with potential operators for the arena and ,even if one is not found, it will operate as it did in the past, should pandemic restrictions lift. He’s also open to a variety of arrangements.

“I’m not predisposed to saying the City of Winnipeg has to run it or the City of Winnipeg can’t run it,” Browaty said. “Let’s figure out what makes sense.”

The reopening is great news for the River East Minor Hockey Association, said president Jarred Dolyniuk. Ice time was at a premium with the arena open, and closing it only made things worse.

“This provides more ice time for our athletes and more appropriate practice ice time options for all age groups. Not having the facility available last year was difficult on our program and resulted in more travel time to get to practices for our families.”

The news was also welcomed by the MMJHL’s River East Royal Knights, who were based out of the Terry Sawchuk Arena prior to the rink’s closure. Knights general manager Barry Bonni did not hold back when asked about the one-year hiatus away from the club’s home rink.

“Playing out of River East Arena was a disaster,” Bonni said. “Coming back helps us tremendously. We have our own dressing room there and our own offices.”

The players hated being away from their home arena, Bonni said. Whereas at home they could store their equipment in their own stalls, they had to come and go out of a standard dressing room after every use.

Bonni said aluminum sheeting hanging over the ice surface held much of the moisture that caused the mould. That has been removed so the problem should be solved.

Now all he needs is to get a new set of keys, as the locks were changed when the arena was shuttered.

“At some point I am going to have to get in there and get organized,” Bonni said.