Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 28/00) - Although the final decision was made Tuesday night to go for a new arena, it was not an easy process.

Three options were presented before council members. The first, building two arenas now; the second, and one chosen, to build one arena now and leave room for another; and the third, building one arena now and another later, but not necessarily at the same location.

Recommendations from the Arena Advisory Committee stated that it could be premature to build a twin-pad arena now, since the demand for ice surface is not yet high enough to justify its cost.

On the other hand, it was projected by the GNWT Bureau of Statistics that by the year 2006 the population of Yellowknife will reach 20,000, therefore identifying a future need for the twin-pad.

Since all three options had the same initial cost, but the second would be more cost-efficient in the long-run, the committee decided it was the most practical choice.

Several councillors were skeptical.

Coun. Alan Woytuik agreed the Sir John Franklin site was an "excellent site" for an arena, but worried the decision was being rushed.

"If we as council make a mistake ... the people of Yellowknife will be paying for this for the next 50 years," said Woytuik.

Coun. Cheryl Best agreed.

"Wrong place, wrong time ... in building this arena, I think that we are making a big mistake," she said.

Best agreed with building a single-pad arena at the Sir John site, but believed building a twin-pad arena there would be a "50-year headache."

"My dream is to see a community centre housing one, two sheets of ice in a feature site in this city," Best said, stressing the twin dream should not be rushed into.

She said building a twin-pad at the Sir John site is a "waste of money" and there are better sites to be considered for the facility.

She believed the third sheet of ice should be built further within the city near Range Lake, Frame Lake or Kam Lake.

Concerns about crowded parking lots were also raised. The plan calls for 370 parking spaces but speculation arose over whether that would be adequate for two arenas.

That shouldn't be a concern, according to Coun. Bob Brooks. He said the parking space at Sir John Franklin (42) and the Northern Arts and Culture Centre (90) could be used as well.

"They can all utilize each other's overflow for events," Brooks said.

David McCann was the only councillor who voted against building an arena at the Sir John site.

He thought the arena should be built closer to the airport, believing the bulk of Yellowknife's population will be shifting towards that area in the next few years.

Coun. Robert Slaven begged to differ.

"If we start building residences out by the airport, we're going to start looking at building arenas (number) four and five," he said.

"I think what we're going to end up doing in the next four or five years is having more people live downtown," he said.

The new arena could also be home to an indoor walking/running track, space for indoor soccer and other multi-purpose rooms.