Neighbourhood organizing as city looks at demolition of Simmons arena

A group hoping to keep asports complex in its neighbourhood is disappointed Charlottetown city councilseems to be moving in a different direction.

Council recently approved fundstolook atadding a third ice surface tothe Bell Aliant Centre, as well as money for a plan to removethe current Simmons Sports Centre.

"We think it's somewhat short-sighted," saidOlin Penna, a community member of the Simmons Sports Campus group.

The group has put up signs in the neighbourhoodand they've also created a website, which proposes a new Simmons sports campus with two rinks, a new pool andmultiple sports fields.

"We really want city council to take this seriously," said Penna. "Losing a recreation facility like this really impacts so many people.

"This is the heartbeat of our community and it's being taken away."

Penna said a centralized sports campus at the Simmons site makes sense sinceit's next totwo schools and handy for many families and the people who use it.

"A lot of the key user groups weren't engaged in this process," he said.

Numerous reports done

Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown said numerous reports have been done looking intothe feasibility of Simmons.

He said one recent recommendation was to decommission it.

"I know there's a lot of emotional connection to this facility," said Brown.

Brown said the city is in theearly stages and is focused on meeting climate change mitigation funding criteria, which would help the city pay for a new ice surface.

He said they're not objecting to other ideas, but there is an urgency to get a new rink.

"We have to get moving on replacing this facility," said Brown.

He said athird ice surface forthe Bell Aliant Centrecould qualify for significant funding, with almost 73 per cent coming fromthe federal and provincial governments, leaving only27 per cent forthe city to pay.

He said itwould be more cost efficient and reduce the city's carbon footprint.

"We have to look at what we can fiscally manage," he said.

'We're not gaining anything'

The president of Charlottetown Minor Hockey said he would prefertosee Simmonsrevamped.

"We would like to keep the Simmons location," said Keith Ford.

Ford said it would be huge lossbecause minor hockey uses it so much.

He also said closing Simmons and adding just one ice pad to Bell Aliant doesn't create any more ice.

"We're not gaining anything," he said.

Architect hired to do preliminary work at Bell Aliant Centre

Sue Fraser, general manager at the Bell Aliant Centre, said an architect has just been hired to doschematic drawings which would provide a rough idea of how a third sheet of ice could be added.

"There's still lots of steps before we get to the actual breaking of ground here, but we're making progress," said Fraser.

The city and board of governors at the university would need to approve the project.

Fraser said initial studies put the cost of a third ice pad between $12 and $15million.

She said if approved, it could go to tender this summer.

The city hopes it willbe completed in time for the Canada Games in February 2023.

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