Ice, aged: In small towns across region, old rinks near best-before date

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An organization representing Ontario’s recreation facilities is raising concerns that province could be at risk of losing a quarter of its indoor ice rinks in the next two decades.

Speaking on behalf of the Ontario Recreational Facilities Association (ORFA) – an organization created in 1947 whose membership includes those who operate and manage rinks – Terry Piche said, although data is in its infancy, there’s concern that aging arenas, particularly in smaller communities, are at risk of being decommissioned due to costs associated with maintaining aging rinks.

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“Our unscientific projection is that we’re probably going to lose 25 per cent of our recreation infrastructure, ice sheet inventory, in the next 25 years,” Piche said.

There was a construction boom in the 1960s and 1970s of indoor ice-skating arenas, Piche said, after municipalities received government funding for recreation facilities, and his organization estimates there are roughly 750 indoor ice rinks housing about 1,100 ice sheets provincewide.

But much of that inventory is approaching or exceeding 50 years of age, which Piche called “passed its best-before date.”

Piche said it’s possible “500-plus ice rinks are in the senior stage of a typical building lifecycle” meaning significant investment is needed in the coming years, if it hasn’t already been done, for them to remain safe and serviceable.

Of the province’s 444 municipalities, about 75 per cent have fewer than 25,000 people, which means arena investment could pose an issue for some of them, Piche said.

There are many rinks across Southwestern Ontario that could be vulnerable to closing in the next 25 years because of their age and maintenance costs, according to Graham Nesbitt, a former ORFA board member who now owns an ice painting business in Seaforth.

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Nesbitt, who paints 25 to 30 rinks in the region, cited Bayfield’s arena as an example of an ice pad that could be in jeopardy of being decommissioned in the next 25 years because of its age and necessary renovations, such as its small dressing rooms and the arena’s layout.

“There’s only one washroom that serves all the dressing rooms, and it’s a tiny little band box, and they’re struggling to keep it going,” Nesbitt said.

The amalgamations of minor hockey leagues are also putting a strain on arenas as more communities play under the same association, which can draw teams away from some rinks and reduce the number of participants, said Nesbitt.

“The travel has gotten ridiculous for what minor hockey does, and that’s going to kill the arena business and the wealth (of) minor hockey themselves,” said Nesbitt. “When you’ve got to start driving an hour and 15 minutes to your next closest game, that’s crazy.”

As well as Bayfield, Nesbitt cited Mt. Brydges, Alvinston, Strathroy, Hensall, Centralia, West Lorne, Embro and Glencoe as communities that could be vulnerable to losing rinks in the next 25 years.

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One local community that’s already been affected is Goderich. The Memorial Arena was constructed in 1949 and operated as an indoor ice rink until it was decommissioned in 2018 due to health and safety concerns, but still offers floor sports.

For larger communities, there’s less of a concern about building new facilities, Piche said.

Piche listed Sudbury and Thunder Bay as cities whose arenas need replacement, but both have large enough populations to support the cost of building one.

His association is already preparing to warn municipalities about a “looming recreation facility crisis” at a three-day conference scheduled to take place in Markham in October 2025.

With files by Kathleen Smith

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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