Thursday is the last day for local residents to fill out a survey on a proposed arena development in Chatham-Kent.
One of the online survey options is already closed, but a second option is still available at letstalkchatham-kent.ca and you can fill out a paper copy and hand that in at a Municipal Service Centre until 4:30 p.m. Thursday, February 21.
The stated goal of the survey is "to receive resident input on a proposed arena development in Chatham that would replace or repurpose Memorial and Erickson Arenas."
Chatham-Kent's Manager of Parks and Open Spaces Jeff Bray, who has been overseeing the survey, said he's been impressed with the volume of responses so far, with over two-thousand submissions already coming in.
"That's a pretty good representative, I think, for a survey," said Bray, adding the results that he saw also included a good range of responses from people in communities across the municipality. "There are some decisions to be made based on the results... ultimately, those decisions lie with [Chatham-Kent] Council."
Today isn't your last chance to provide input on the future of Chatham-Kent's arenas, though.
There is a public meeting coming up on February 28 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre (315 King St. W) in Chatham where municipal staff will review the results of the survey. Bray said that will be a drop-in style event with staff taking all of the feedback from the survey and the meeting to council.
"Whether we go the route of a new arena complex, what size that would be, or whether we maintain the status quo," said Bray. "We have direction from Council to bring this back in the late summer to have them make a decision on how they would like to proceed."
