300 Newmarket residents sign ‘save Hollingsworth Arena’ petition

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 10, 2015
By Chris Simon

More than 300 residents have lent their names in support of saving the Hollingsworth Arena.

Newmarket council members received a petition calling on town council to save the Patterson Road arena during a committee meeting Monday afternoon.

San Michael Homes Developments wants to purchase the Hollingsworth Arena as part of a $130-million redevelopment project near the Davis Drive and Patterson intersection. If the project were completed as planned, the arena and two privately owned properties would be redeveloped.

The petition states Ward 3 would lack a local recreation facility if the project goes ahead. It also mentions the closure would result in decreased access to ice time in the municipality and leave the area "grossly under serviced for recreation".

Mayor Tony Van Bynen said the petition preamble contained "misstatements" and called on staff to prepare a clarification report.

"There should be some very specific communications back to the people who have signed the petition and done so with misinformation," he said.

Others said more details on the project would be unveiled during the upcoming public consultation process.

"We get petitions all the time; we're not in control of the preamble," Ward 3 Councillor Jane Twinney said. "It's part of democracy."

Mortgage broker John Heckbert, who ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 5 seat in last year's municipal election and helped organize the petition, accused the town of keeping residents in the dark on the matter.

"If you don't communicate, people don't know," he said. "Residents are ... frustrated. They just don't want the arena to go away."

The municipality is currently in negotiations with San Michael. Staff members are also working to finalize an agreement on capital and operating costs for a replacement arena with Pickering College. The proposed new arena would be built on school grounds.

The petition asks council to explore other locations for the San Michael development.

San Michael hopes to begin construction in March 2017.