Hockey teams scramble after two city arenas put on ice

Terry Sawchuk and West Kildonan rinks closed by inspectors

Barry Boni, president of the River East Royal Knights, stands in the empty rink of the Terry Sawchuk Memorial Arena on Thursday.

INSTEAD of ice, Barry Boni walks onto a dull concrete surface at the Terry Sawchuk Memorial Area on Thursday.

The arena, as well as the West Kildonan Memorial Arena, have had to close after failing inspections, Predicating a scramble for hockey teams to find a rink to play on because ice time is so scarce.

“We’re now in panic mode,” said Boni, president of the River East Royal Knights, the team’s home rink.

Boni said the community is in Manitoba’s hockey community, said the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League is scrambling to find ice time for this year’s pending finding us somewhere to play, Boni said. “Which is very difficult because our season has been frustrated because they’ve been pushed back… we had 700 players go through this facility last year,” he said.

He said staff “dragged their feet” on getting the arena inspected ahead of the season, which is supposed to be done in September, but the city has booked officials for all of those games.” In the past, Boni said the city gave the Royal Knights access to the River East Arena, but this time, they’ve asked something entirely different for ice time.

“That’s hard on the players, that’s hard on the coaches, that’s hard on the parents, problems at Terry Sawchuk, at 901 Kimberley Ave., are part of a larger issue between the City of Winnipeg and community members who use the arenas.

The arena, constructed in 1961, closed six weeks last year and was shut down again earlier this month. The arena open have been done then. “It’s just disappointing that a month ago, we had ice, and now we put it off until the end of October, when they lost their feet all summer,” Boni said.

The city indicated the closure at Terry Sawchuk occurred after an inspection found issues with some of the arena’s girdam beams. They’re the massive wooden supports that stretch across the ceiling.

The city, while one was repaired last December, further investigation identified eight to 10 more that need attention.

At the arena Thursday, no contractors were present and a person who identified himself as the arena foreman said he couldn’t speak about it.

Officials with the Seven Oaks Minor Hockey Association said they were told the West Kildonan arena is 346 Perth Ave. for the season.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that this are (is) just as simple as that.”

Boni criticized the city for the closure on Thursday, saying “when a community centre is closed, a neighbourhood loses its identity.”

Woodstock said residents should be “angry” about it.

The city’s mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham pledged to address aging recreational facilities by establishing an inter-governmental fund of $80 million over eight years for contributing $20 million of government funds.

He called the closure “frustrating.”

“I’ve played a ton of hockey in my life, and I know what it means to sport, so when you’ve got something that’s shut down and you have to move your team or move around, it’s really unfortunate, but you’ve got to maintain safety,” Gillingham said.

In an interview with a City of Winnipeg spokeswoman, she commented, but in a statement, impact on teams, families and community organizations was acknowledged.

“Closures like these impact on the alternative ice allocation plans for the main user groups in alignment with the City’s recreation service plan. We are committed to working with user groups to address as much of their ice needs as possible.”

The statement said the city does not have any information on repair costs or funding related to either of the closures.