by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 01/98) - City aldermen gave a mixed reception to an appeal to keep the construction of two new arenas a top priority.

"The city identified the need for three ice sheets a number of years ago," arena-users representative Gary Vivian told council this week.

"We would like some confirmation from city council that the twin rink concept is still the flavour of the day," said Vivian, past president of Yellowknife minor hockey.

Ald. Bob Brooks, who supported the building of a twin-pad arena, took up Vivian's cause later in Monday's meeting. He suggested city staff meet with the group to work out terms of reference for analyzing the ice shortage dilemma.

Brooks found little support from the rest of council.

"Administration has spent countless hundreds of hours on this multi-purpose thing over the last couple of years," said Ald. Peggy Near. "There are other things we need to focus on."

Near suggested letting the ice users work on their own for a few months. Ald. Robert Slaven disagreed.

"I certainly would like some guidance from administration on what the relationship between city hall and this organization should be ... as opposed to ignoring them over the next few months."

Ald. Ben McDonald said the pause in the arena debate provides an opportunity to develop a more organized approach to recreation.

"What council should be looking at now is an overall recreation plan," said McDonald. "Getting ourselves locked into a process like this will lead us down the path we've just come out of."

A motion by Brooks to get involved in the new group was defeated.