Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 18/02) - There's ice in the Gerry Murphy but no one will ever skate on it again.

The city had hoped to temporarily reopen the half-century-old facility this fall, but Don Gillis, the NWT's fire marshal, extinguished that hope Wednesday.

Dave Ramsay said delays and cost overruns are the fault of city council. - Mike W. Bryant/NNSL photo

The city had spent about $5,000 in engineering studies and devoted hours of staff time and electrical costs to preparing the arena for eventual use. However, the fire marshal said the city cannot reopen the building without extensive upgrading work, which is estimated to cost well over $1 million.

"It would have met a community need in an interim basis, but public safety takes precedence," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

Others weren't surprised at the fire marshal's decision.

"I think we would have been in fairy tale land to think that anything would change," said Gary Vivian, the co-chair of the arena development committee.

Gillis was unavailable for comment. His voicemail said he was on annual leave until Oct. 28. If Gillis had allowed the arena to re-open the city had promised extra engineering checks on the building as well as a dedicated fire watch whenever people were inside.

New arena to open Dec. 15

Meanwhile, construction continues to lag on the new arena.

"It's very frustrating for the user groups, but the bottom line is we just have to deal with what we've been dealt," said Vivian.

Now PCL Contractors Northern Inc., the construction manager for the arena, is promising a Dec. 15 opening date.

"Contractors are calling and saying this is mis-management.

"The public is calling and asking for an inquiry about this. I'm not in a position to ignore their claims," said Coun. Robert Hawkins.

Hawkins is part of a cohort of councillors who are finding it increasingly difficult to restrain their tempers about delays and cost-overruns at the arena, which at last count was $2.6 million over budget and at least three months behind schedule.

PCL has consistently defended the delays, saying staff and equipment shortages here and in Alberta have hampered construction.

But Hawkins isn't buying it.

"You look around the city. There are projects going on time.

"There are projects saving money. Why is our project going haywire?"

User groups have decided on a schedule from here to December that will see groups switch usage of the Yellowknife Community Arena week by week. Some groups, such as the figure skating association, will be allowed ice time every week.

A number of special events have also been cancelled, including minor hockey tournaments, figure skating test days and a speed-skating meet.

Both the Halloween skate and the Nov. 14 high school challenge match were both spared the cut.