Open house at new centre draws appreciative reviews
BY DON RICKERS and DAVE BURKET The VOICE
The old Pelham arena sits forlornly on Haist Street. If the current Town Council has its way, it will soon likely be for sale, having served the community for the last 40 years. It has featured many memorable events and tournaments over the decades.
But that was then. This is now.
Two new arenas, packaged into a 143,000 sq. ft. community centre bearing the name of its $1 million sponsor, Meridian Credit Union, sits off Highway 20 in East Fonthill. It is, according to its proponents, just what Pelham needs to bolster its hometown economy and spirit.
The public got a “sneak peek” at the facilities on Saturday, July 14, as the doors were opened and visitors given self-tour maps to aid in their wandering.
By the end of the event, some 860 guests had come through, according to Mayor Dave Augustyn.
The two arenas (both NHL-size, with seating for 1000 and 100 respectively) are on the ground floor, along with a multipurpose gymnasium, change rooms, washrooms, and an expansive atrium lobby open to the second floor.
A walking track, special functions area, offices, a community meeting room, and a large multi-purpose space with kitchen are on the second level.
Given the green light in spring 2016, the centre is predicted to open on-time and on-budget by its Oversight Committee. Ball Construction built the facility, which was designed by Petroff Partnership Architecture.
The interior is sleekly modern with industrial touches, the colour palette mostly muted shades of white, tan, and gray. As Town Council intended, when it called for a “world-class” design, the facility’s international style could as easily double as an airport terminal in Stockholm, or a corporate headquarters in Dallas.
The facility shone on Saturday, despite overcast skies and intermittent rain showers. A steady stream of visitors arrived over the course of the four-hour open house.
Mayor Dave Augustyn was in the foyer, greeting guests. A man waved to him and said, “Super job—above my expectations.”
Noah Sabourin and his father Tim are from St. Catharines, but they were on site to check out the new ice surfaces.
“It’s a huge difference, compared to the old rink,” said Noah, a minor hockey player. His dad added, “It’s a beautiful facility, with great change rooms. We travel for a lot of tournaments, and you always appreciate modern change rooms.”
A senior citizen, who did not want to be named, said, “Two rinks let you have tournaments here in Pelham, which means less travel and cost for our local families. And it’s a revenue source for our town.”
Two older gentlemen commented, “It’s an impressive building, and hopefully will be good for the community…as long as they have the people to fill it. Families with young children will certainly appreciate it, but there are a lot of seniors in the area who may have limited use of it.”
Pelham Town Council candidate Sidney Beamer had mixed views.
“There’s a lot here that we can work with,” she said. “Although I think that if they had installed health department-approved kitchens, it would have allowed for a greater variety of functions.”
Senior Olya Schwadschenko, who has the aid of a walker, thought that there might be accessibility concerns for those with limited mobility.
“It’s a long way to the parking lot, with few handicapped spots,” she said. “I think the building is beautiful, but don’t know yet if I can use it.”
Four other seniors, who also preferred not to be identified, were disappointed that the centre had no pool.
“This facility, with its rinks and gym, is for the kids,” said one man.
“We wanted a pool. The YMCA in Welland is very congested, and the Fonthill outdoor pool only operates in the summer. We’ve been vocal about our opposition to the design since the beginning. There are a lot of people over 60 in this community—are any of us going to use the arenas? We’re disappointed they didn’t take the existing demographics more into consideration.”
The man’s wife added, “The Town felt there was adequate consultation with the public, but we feel it was already a done deal. Our friends just moved here from Kenora, which has the same population as Fonthill, and that town has just built a beautiful facility with a great rink and pool, a children’s pool, a physical therapist room, and gymnasium. It better serves all in their community.”
Mayor Augustyn said he had heard complaints about the lack of a pool in the design countless times.
“The whole facility is based on a business case analysis that we worked on for of a number of years, included a telephone survey, and data from user groups. The report indicated that we had demand for 100% prime-time ice on one rink, and 70% on a second pad. We now have 100% sold prime time ice on one pad, and 95% on the other.”
Augustyn acknowledged that residents wanted a local pool.
“They expressed that desire, but they’re not willing to pay for it. Costs would have been another six or seven million dollars to put a pool in, plus a million annually to operate it. Which was outlandish, because we didn’t have the sustaining demand for it. So that’s why we didn’t include a pool. Maybe a hotel will be built in the area and will have a pool available—but a pool is so expensive, and given the proximity of other pools it just didn’t make good business sense.”
Augustyn was jubilant on the topic of operating costs, saying, “We expect the new community centre to be well under the maintenance cost threshold that council set, which was $200,000. I expect the net cost to be closer to the $100,000 mark. There are all kinds of efficiencies in this new building.”
The $36.2 million, 143,000- square-foot facility’s completion has involved a community fundraising campaign, with a $3-million target over 95 percent attained, according to the Town.
While serious questions remain over the centre’s economics, and its financial sustainability in the long term, such issues took a back seat on Saturday.
The delighted faces of young athletes—8, 10, 16 years old—as they got their first glimpses of two mint-condition arenas, and a perfectly polished, enormous gymnasium, spoke volumes. As imagined whistles blew, and future final buzzers sounded, glory was in their eyes, and it looked wonderful. ◆
