Upper Skeena Arena News

Upper Skeena Arena News

Upper Skeena Recreation Centre  //  The current arena in the Hazeltons is old, outdated, and is suffering from severe structural problems. The ice arena has been a critical part of the community for generations, in the past hosting countless hockey practices, games and tournaments. In addition to hockey, the arena was the heart of the community and hosted many community functions such as graduations, community dances, and weddings.

The SIAA has been working for years to raise funds to build a new arena. Until recently, the project has been slow. Local organizations and governments have provided some seed funding and support. The grassroots Hockeyville campaign garnered thousands of stories and photos about the old arena. Project managers were recently hired who have experience with capital fundraising and building projects, and the new arena is moving forward.

Nov 7 / 1:27pm

Planning Underway for New Arena in Hazelton - Karin Koppits CJFW

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Planning Underway for New Arena in Hazelton

"The Barn" scheduled for de-commissioning in 2012

John Crawford

10/26/2010


A new Ice arena for the Hazeltons is one step closer to becoming a reality, now that a concept has been established. Hundreds of people attended an open house held in Hazelton Saturday to look at plans for a replacement for the Ken Trombley Memorial Arena.

Skeena Ice Association Project Manager Tom Madden says there's a lot of support for a new building.

"Both from the local elected area officials, from our presentation to the regional district officials, from the chiefs summit;  I think everyone understands the need is there for this facility in the community,” said Madden.

The anticipated cost for the new arena is in the 7-million dollar range, and some funding has already been raised through the Gitxsan hereditary chiefs and the Northern Development Initiative Trust.

Madden says the old arena site could be used for a number of activities.

"There has been some discussion about how that space might be turned into:  you could built a gym, or you could put some kind of recreation space there, maybe perhaps a lacrosse box, running area, those kinds of things are all idea that the committee has had expressed to them," said Madden, adding "the front half of the building which was built in I think 1997 is going to remain and be an integral part of the new facility. It will serve for special events; it will help the community in terms of other kinds of rentals. It’s a good facility and it’s got a lot of life left in it."

[reported by Karin Koppitz]

Nov 7 / 1:21pm

Hazelton's Regional Community to Community Forum - March 2009

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Nov 7 / 1:06pm

Smithers Interior News Article Nov. 3, 2010

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y Shannon Hurst - Smithers Interior News
Published: November 03, 2010 8:00 AM

Members from the Village of Hazelton, the Regional District and the District of New Hazelton met last Wednesday to discuss the plans for the new arena.

“We had Tom Madden and Jeff Holland give us an update on what was going on and what their plans were,” New Hazelton council member Mike Weeber said. “They said they were still very open as far as figuring out what the community needs were which everyone was happy about.”

According to Weeber, Hazelton Mayor Alice Maitland said she was quite concerned about having to pay any kind of taxes because they have a tough enough time paying for their costs because they don’t get enough tax income as it is.

“The Regional District talked about trying to scale it down to between $7 and 8 million,” Weeber added. “There was also some discussion around the two projects which are the old arena and new one and we felt it wasn’t a good idea to talk about the two at once. The older arena is a separate project and we need to focus on the new one right now.”

Weeber also said while everyone knows that there are a lot of wishes for the future of the facilities in the communities, funding is a major issue.

“We don’t have a main industry to help out with costs for these projects in our area,” Weeber said. “And the Regional District is very hesitant to start shelling out cash.

“We know we definitely need a new arena but it was a general consensus that everyone needs to be very sober about what we as a community are going to do.”

In addition to the building costs, Weeber also mentioned the issue about what it will cost to run and upkeep the new facility as that will be an area of concern in the future too.

As for keeping the building costs within the expectations of the Regional District, Holland stated in last weeks interview that the building committee was aiming for those numbers and he believed it would be attainable.

Overall the big concern amongst the three parties gathered last week were the costs to build but Holland and Madden explained the various options for seeking funding which the Skeena Ice Arena Association fully intends to try to procure.

Nov 7 / 11:51am

KTMA Ice Schedule August 31 2010

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KTMA Ice Schedule August 31 2010.pdf (123 KB)
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Nov 7 / 11:49am

Armstrong Arena Report WoodWorks BC

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Armstrong_Arenapdffinal.pdf (796 KB)
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Nov 7 / 11:39am

New Arena Mechanical Feasibility Study

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Click here to download:
Mechanical Proposal Call.pdf (19 KB)
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The Arena Association recently awarded the attached proposal call to
Stantec Engineering from Kelowna, BC. The Study will be complete in mid
December.

Oct 21 / 11:12am

Interior News Article on Oct. 23 Open House!

On Oct. 23 Hazelton residents will get their first chance to see what their future arena may look like at an open house held at the Skeena Ice Arena.

The Skeena Ice Arena Association’s Building Committee have been busy since they were appointed in January. Funding from the Northern Development Initiative Trust which was secured through the Village of Hazelton was used to complete a business plan which supports building the new arena on the land adjacent to the current one. In addition, $350,000 from the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs is being used to further the business plan, prep and survey the initial site, conduct a geotechnical study and proceed with a review of available mechanical and energy systems for the new facility.

In July, the Building Committee selected the team of Tom Madden from Prince George and Jeff Holland from Hazelton to act as Project Managers. The duo will be assisting the Committee to carry out the Business Plan. They also hired Dan Condon Architecture to prepare a concept plan.

Committee Chair, George Muldoe, said the committee and Project Management team have recently presented their Business Plan to many stakeholders such as; the Village of Hazelton council, New Hazelton council, the Gitxsan Chiefs and the Gitxsan Government Commission. They also made a presentation at the recent UBCM convention in Whistler last week to a variety of provincial Ministers. Next will be the scheduled open house in Hazelton which the Committee is confident will be a solid next step.

"We feel very comfortable in moving forward with the project,” Muldoe said. "The team of Madden and Holland have over 30 years experience each. Tom in the recreation facility construction and operation and Jeff with general construction of all types.”

There will be refreshments and treats provided at the open house and it will be held from 11 a.m. through to 8 p.m. and everyone is welcome.

 

Oct 21 / 11:08am

INVITATION TO ATTEND OPEN HOUSE

Skeena_ice_92010_small_elevation
PROPOSED NEW ICE ARENA         

INVITATION TO ATTEND OPEN HOUSE

DATE:    Saturday, October 23, 2010

TIMES:    11:00am – 8:00pm


LOCATION:  Ken Trombley Memorial Arena

                      Upstairs


Members of the Ice Arena Building Committee and Project Team will be in attendance to provide information to the Public.  Come out and see the concept plan and provide the organizers with your comments.

Oct 8 / 10:05am

KTMA pictures

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