Looking at the reaction from some people who posted on the Mercury’s Facebook page in the hours following Monday night’s city council meeting, you’d swear that they thought Estevan city council had given the green light for a new arena to be built that would rival Affinity Place.
That would be far from the truth.
True, Estevan city council voted to proceed with a request for proposals (RFP) for a third arena. But that’s it. In essence, they’re looking to see if someone can step forward with plans they want for an affordable third ice surface in the community.
There’s nothing to lose with the RFP. It’s not like the city is now locked in to build a new rink. It’s not like the city has to pay a fee to each company that submits a bid.
If council gets a bid that looks good and makes sense from a fiscal and a community perspective, then they should take a long hard look at it and decide whether to proceed. If they don’t get one that is affordable and ultimately meets the city’s needs, then they should shelve the project, and revisit it at a later date.
It’s been more than two years since the Civic Auditorium played host to its final hockey game. Ever since then, there has been rampant speculation about which direction the city should go. Build a basic third arena that can be used to host hockey games and other skating activities in the winter months, and some form of community or sporting activities in the summer?
Go with a field house type of facility that has great year-round versatility, but can’t accommodate ice sports?
Or hold off until the economy gets better?
Six years ago, we might have been able to look at both the third arena and the field house. But not now.
When the Civic was demolished, there was still the belief that something should be built on that site. But since the Civic that time, we’ve been dealt the eventual retirement of Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station, and the associated job losses. There is a growing belief that we might be wise to play the waiting game.
We were making good use of three ice surfaces five years ago. We might still make good use of them now. But that doesn’t mean we’d need three in five or 10 years from now, especially if our population drops below 10,000 people.
But this is still worth looking at. The recreation needs assessment the city had completed earlier this year showed people wanted to have a third rink or a field house. Not many said stand pat. Maybe the people complaining about council’s decision didn’t respond to that survey. Maybe they were too busy taking to social media to complain about something else.
And you have to wonder how many of the social media complainers actually took the time to respond to the city directly ever since the city announced this issue would be on the council agenda. (Note: posts on social media don’t count).
A third arena would be a pretty basic facility. It doesn’t need much in the way of seating, just a few hundred. Give it a standard ice surface, dressing rooms, an ice plant, washrooms and a few other basic amenities and creature comforts.
If the city can secure government funding and some money through the naming rights sales and fundraising, then that will help with this project as well.
There is a good economic spinoff from having a third rink, especially when it comes to tournaments. It allows for larger tournaments that can bring more people to Estevan, and it means games don’t have to be split between Estevan and Bienfait.
As for the harsh critics of council’s decision – and there aren’t a lot of them, just a very vocal group who posted a lot – please do everyone a favour.
Take a deep breath. Do your research. Find out what a request for proposals is, what it means, and what it doesn’t mean.
And then wait and see what council decides early next year when the RFPs are in.
