Coun. Mark King, chair of community services and the special arena committee, had expected a quick turnaround in a decision about where to put a new arena.
But it lost a tiny bit of momentum last night as yet another proposed location for the West Ferris Arena replacement is on the table and the life of the special committee has also been extended to the end of the year.
The new proposed location: West Ferris Secondary School.
“I still expect to bring a final recommendation forward before December,” King reassured reporters after council last night, explaining the delay is in the geotechnical studies of the two prime locations for consideration, the Steve Omischl Sports Complex, and Thomson Park (behind Memorial Gardens).
This suggestion came from Coun. Jeff Serran, who felt it prudent to communicate with the Near North District School Board to see if the city can use the area and ensure West Ferris doesn’t lose the arena.
“I think it just follows the mandate of them trying to keep stuff in Ferris,” Serran said. “I think we also need to put our money where our mouth is. We suggested to them they don’t close the school and they listened to us and kept the school open in that area. For me, this shows partnerships not only with the Near North District School board but with other entities within the city.”
See: Thompson challenges city council to partner with school board
Just last meeting, the special committee had ruled out the possibility of rehabilitating the West Ferris arena to accommodate two ice pads, as well as another plot of land, offered unsolicited to the city.
“I have no idea if the school board has other plans for the area,” King said. "My intention at this point based on the motion that came out of council tonight, I’ll give the chair of the school board a call and ask him if he wants to come to our meeting on October 25 and find out if there is interest on their part.”
The committee, which was struck in response to a staff report on the aging West Ferris arena, will be meeting again on October 25 with the goal of looking at estimated costs of a double pad—chosen over building a single pad—as well as the current operational costs of West Ferris arena, Pete Palangio (or the double rinks), and Memorial Gardens. King said this would provide members of the committee with the insight needed to make informed financial decisions on a future double ice pad for North Bay.
And while Serran said the School Board might come back to them declining the offer, he said it was about pursuing those avenues and making sure to keep open lines of communication considering council voted to give the committee more time.
“We need to show commitment to the people in that end of the city that we won’t remove a big community hub for them,” Serran said. “This is just another area for consideration and I’d hate to see it at Memorial Gardens. We didn’t have a lot of locations to consider, to begin with so I don’t think this will slow the process down, plus they extended the committee until the end of the year so when I heard that I thought it was a great time to reach out to them.”
