Brockton's mayor says the arrival of "once-in-a-generation funding" for arenas from the federal government has the municipality thinking about a new build in Walkerton.
This week, council voted to reverse course on a resolution passed in March to explore refurbishing the current arena, which is around 55 years old. Staff were instructed to put a tender out for a project consultant to plan the retrofit, but before that went out, council changed its mind.
Mayor Chris Peabody said the reason for the pivot was due to new information, mainly the availability of federal funds through the Build Canada Strong program that are specifically focused on energy-efficient arenas.
"I put it to council that perhaps we should shift gears on this, because it's not very often that there's a big pool of money specifically for arenas," he said. "Given the new information, council voted to put together a package to try to qualify as a bidder municipality in this program on arenas."
The town already has seven acres of serviced land in the Eastridge Business Park, right across from the soccer fields, that can be developed into a new arena.
Peabody said while he's not sure how much would be available to help fund a new build — a project he roughly estimated would cost around $35 to $40 million — this funding stream wouldn't close off other avenues too.
"The good news about this grant is that unlike some other grants, this can be combined federal and provincial, it can be stacked on top of each other... with other funding that's often not allowed but in this case it will be," he said.
He added that the municipality has gone back and forth on a new arena for a decade, so they already have plans for what they want, they just need the funding to get started.
"Arenas are a core of rural Canada, and when you get an arena that's that old, plans have to be made to keep that strong legacy part of Canadian culture moving forward," he said.
The next step for the Municipality is filing an expression of interest, which is due July 15. Staff should provide a report back to council in August.
