Iqaluit (Feb 27/06) - Recreation facilities are often the cornerstone of communities. Without them, residents would be without great feasts, junior hockey games, craft fairs and Christmas celebrations.

The community hall in Clyde River gets a little cold at times. This is the fire alarm inside the facility. Aimo Paniloo, the community's recreation director, said it's frozen because they have to clear the hall of toxic fumes produced by the furnace. - photo courtesy of Aimo Paniloo

More often than not, the facilities in Nunavut's communities, including the capital, are not up to snuff.

The recreation co-ordinator in Clyde River, Aimo Paniloo, listed a swell of problems plaguing the two main hang-outs in his hamlet - the arena and the community hall.

"The ceiling posts in the arena are rusting. The outside edge on some parts of the (ice) rink are molding. In some parts of the arena there is no concrete flooring, it is just sand," said Paniloo.

There's more.

"There's a big hole in the boards (that surround the rink). One of the change room's drywall is cracking, I guess from the humidity and heat."

And the storage room furnace doesn't work.

The hamlet owns an ice-cleaner (Zamboni), but because there is no storage space for it at the arena, it is kept in the hamlet garage across town and can't be used.

So instead, they push and pull a small, manually operated machine across the ice surface.

Paniloo admits the problems aren't life threatening, but he does think they are serious.

"The problems need to be fixed so the arena doesn't have to be closed in the future."

The community hall is different.

"We always have a problem with the furnace. It produces toxic fumes."

Added to that, every ceiling fan is broken, so during community gatherings they have to open the doors to let air in.

Because there's no porch protecting the inside from direct contact of Arctic winds and cold, the floor tiles peel up from the floor.

Every year at Christmas, the community packs into the hall to run a race from one side of the building to another.

"Most years people get hurt," said Paniloo.

The hamlet just applied for territorial funding to fix these problems.

They don't know yet whether they will be approved.

Aside from fixing what they have, Paniloo wished they had more.

On his wish list is a swimming pool and a garage adjacent to the arena to store the Zamboni so they can actually use it.

Sandy Kautuq, the assistant senior administrative officer for the hamlet of Clyde River, estimates that at least 50 to 60 people use either the community hall or the arena a day. There are 850 residents in the community.

Malachi Arreak, Pond Inlet's senior administrative officer, is worried about the state of facilities in his community.

"You can actually get frost bite from playing hockey," said Arreak.

The arena was built 20 years ago, originally as a pilot project for the High Arctic.

The hamlet considers it too old and too small. Basically a big metal building with no insulation, it becomes a liability in the spring when icicles formed on the ceiling melt, said Arreak.

The community hall was built close to 40 years ago, fits 500 standing room only, and has no air exchange system. Arreak said he considers it to be major source of sickness in community.

"In the community hall, there's no air exchange, like from outside. That's where most people get sick."

He would like to see a bigger hall in the community.

"During celebratory days, like Christmas and New Year's, there's usually not enough room for everybody to gather," said Arreak.

The arena and community hall have been scheduled for replacement by the GN for the last three years, but was shoved onto the back-burner when emergencies like replacing the Cambridge Bay community hall and the Joamie school in Iqaluit arose.

Arreak would also like to see new garages in the community. The garages are too small to fit service vehicles so are used for cold storage, he said.

There is a swimming pool, an ice rink and the beginning stages of a youth centre in Cape Dorset.

If there was more funding, the pool could be insulated better and open year-round, as opposed to only a few months as it is now, said Cheryl Constantineau, Cape Dorset recreation director.

With an ice-making machine the rink's ice would be better and would allow for a longer season, she said.

They have a Zamboni, but the storage space has buckled floors.

It is believed the community has either the third or fourth highest rate of enrollment for Hockey Nunavut.

The community hall is in good condition.