THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
A public meeting was held in Fort Smith on March 27 to discuss the future of Centennial Arena, which was damaged by fire in May of last year.

The Town of Fort Smith is considering renovations to extend the life of Centennial Arena, which was damaged by fire in May of last year. - NNSL file photo

While repairs are proceeding on the fire-damaged area of the arena, the Town of Fort Smith is seeking input from ice users and members of the public on possible other improvements.

"We have the potential to get up to 40 years out of this facility," said Mayor Brad Brake, who noted the building has an estimated overall lifespan of 75 years.

"Basically what happened is we sat down and we explained to them that we can get lots more value out of our facility from a small injection of money right now than if we were to build a new one," he said of the public meeting.

About 14 people attended the gathering to offer ideas for improvements and changes.

Brake said there were a lot of ideas thrown out.

The suggestions included more insulation, improved lighting, a larger Zamboni room, more dressing rooms, an officials room, a mezzanine, a new scoreboard, more storage, changes to the canteen, a heated timekeeper's area, new boards, a coaches' office, a skate sharpening room, a new front, a new roof, and more efficient heating.

"The user groups are understanding that we're willing to put time and money into the facility to make it better for them, and they were putting their ideas forward," said Brake.

The user groups represented at the meeting included women's hockey, minor hockey, rec hockey and seniors' hockey. There were no official representatives from figure skating and speed skating.

"It was a good meeting," said Brake. "We had lots of discussion. Lots of ideas were put forward."

Jessica Cox, chair of the Fort Smith Recreation Advisory Board, was also pleased with the meeting, describing it as a good first step in consulting user groups.

"It's exciting being able to put forward ideas about how we'd like to see the building change," she said. "So we'll see what happens this summer and where the building will be at in the fall."

Brake said it is not feasible to consider building a new arena, which he noted would cost $20 million to $25 million and would be well beyond the town's borrowing limit.

Cox also noted the town stated categorically that a new arena is not in the cards.

"My perception is most people seem to have accepted that and are moving forward with talking about how they would like to see the existing building changed," she said.

Brake said the arena could be upgraded for roughly $3 million to $4 million.

The work could be done in phases, possibly starting this summer.

That would be in addition to $1.7 million in already-approved repairs and upgrades – $1.1 million in insurance money and the rest from the town. In February, town council awarded a $1.77-million contract to CAB Construction to repair the fire damage and provide some additional improvements, such as upgraded lighting.

Brake said the company has a mandate to bring the arena back to where it was before the fire.

If the town decides to make changes to the scope of the work in the fire-damaged section of the building, it would need to let the builder know that as soon as possible.

Brake said the ideas discussed at the March 27 meeting will be considered by an architect and costs will be estimated. A report will then be presented to council.

Representatives of an architectural firm in Yellowknife and CAB Construction attended the March 27 meeting.

Whatever the decision on additional changes and improvements, the plan is to have the arena ready next winter.

The arena, which closed for the season on March 29, operated this past winter under temporary arrangements to avoid the fire-damaged area.