Town of Newmarket set to decommission Hollingsworth Arena in 2020

Yorkregion.com
April 10, 2019
Teresa Latchford

The Town of Newmarket is set to decommission the Hollingsworth Arena after the 2019-20 season.

Council still has to stamp the decision with final approval at a council meeting, but councillors decided this week to roll with recommendations in a staff report that would close the aging arena and operate with six ice pads instead of seven come April 2020.

Newmarket’s Community Services Commissioner Ian McDougall said the recommendation wasn’t made lightly, but the fact is there has been a major drop in usage of the ice pad over the years, and the older facility requires major investment if the town wished to keep it open.

The arena currently operates with a deficit of $42,264 and would need more than $1 million over the next four years to keep the building open and operational.

“It is kind of an emotional thing to close an arena most of us have used or have had children who have used it,” Ward 3 Coun. Jane Twinney said. “These user group are an important part of our community, and I want to make sure they are accommodated.”

Recreation and Culture Director Colin Service confirmed that speaking with the user groups was part of the consultation process when considering the recommendation to close the facility. While he can’t guarantee these groups will get the same days or time slots they are currently utilizing, the town is committed to working with each group to find something that works.

“We had thoughtful conversations, and no one was happy with losing the arena, but there was a general understanding of why we are doing it,” he said. “We were sure to point out this was the start of a conversation, not the end of a conversation, with stakeholders.”

There is well over 22,000 hours of permitted ice pad hours the town can offer and 13,000 of those hours are considered prime time, Service said. There are only 15 hours per week when all seven ice pads are in use.

The Hollingsworth Arena is only used by user groups, not including any town-run programing; during prime times and all other times the arena is closed and locked. There are 1,650 hours available for permitting per year, and last year, fewer than 1,100 hours were used.

Moving forward, the town would schedule all town-run programs after hours are allocated to user groups -- some town-run programs could be shifted to outdoor ice pads. The allocation policy would be reviewed to uphold principles of preference in prime-time hours to minor groups first, and staff recommends a new outdoor ice pad be built by 2020 for some permitting during peak prime hours.

“Newmarket’s recreation playbook includes the construction of an outdoor rink,” Service said. “We have yet to set a location for this outdoor rink, and once we have, the design will take place.”

Service said there was interest from the hockey groups to use an outdoor rink, but it wouldn’t be conducive to other sports like speed skating or figure skating.

The town also intends to review pricing structure to provide “significant” financial incentives to book hours outside prime time to create a supply-and-demand model.

Partnerships with neighbouring municipalities and private operators will also be explored.

Should the town receive a request for Junior A team replacement, it would provide game hours only on weekends rather than the Thursday nights the Newmarket Hurricanes were using.

Regional Coun. Tom Vegh felt this was the fiscally responsible thing to do but also pointed out that the decision should be looked at as an opportunity rather than a loss.

“Look at what the decommissioning of the Newmarket Community Centre brought to Riverwalk Commons: opportunity,” he said.