Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 30/04) - The Gerry Murphy Arena site will remain open to the public after demolition, and it may be a long wait before city council decides what to do with the prime lake shore property.

One thing is for sure, council wants nothing to do with the Workers' Compensation Board's proposal to turn the site over to them.

The WCB wants to partner with the Department of Justice to build a new office headquarters and courthouse at the edge of Frame Lake.

City council shot the idea down at a committee meeting Monday, with several of them preferring a new library to an office building on that site.

"I don't think anybody but the presenters were in favour of a courthouse," said Coun. Bob Brooks.

When administration informed council that a tiny parcel of the Gerry Murphy site is still technically on Commissioner's land, he joked that WCB may want to give that lot a try.

"They could build a courthouse on that piece," said Brooks.

For now, council wants to hold off making any decisions on the site.

It could be another year before a final decision is made.

Until then the cleared site will likely be left open for park space.

"I don't believe we have any ability to build anything short-term right now," said Brooks.

Brooks, Alan Woytuik, and Doug Witty expressed their desire to put a library on the spot, including an atrium joining it to City Hall, but most felt they haven't heard enough from residents.

"There's a lot of opinions out there, and a lot of them are similar, but we need a lot more public input on this," said Witty.

There was much discussion about what to do with Gerry Murphy memorabilia, including bleachers, the boards along the ice, and wood from the building.

"(The wood) is well-aged and could made into many neat things," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

No date has been set for the building's demolition, but it's expected to come down this spring.