By Charlie Senack
For almost 45 years, a spaceship-looking dome near Britannia Beach has been a community staple for skaters and hockey players who are looking for some casual time on the ice.
Now reaching the end of its lifecycle, the single pad Belltown Arena will need to be converted into a seasonal rink only open for about three months during the winter. Even then it will be weather dependent.
The city said the change is needed due to an aging refrigeration system that needs replacing along with mechanical, plumbing and electrical issues. It would cost at least $3.2 million to continue operating in its current form, money the city says isn’t justifiable.
Alex Cullen, a former city councillor for the area and member of the Belltown Community Association, said it will be a big loss to the community.
“It was well used with a 76 per cent utilization rate — just a bit above the city average,” Cullen told KT. “The hockey rinks liked it for practice. What happens if the pipes break at the Tom Brown arena or elsewhere?”
Cullen said it appears the city has no plan and criticized Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe who campaigned on keeping taxes low without cutting services.
“Here is our first cut. Leagues now need to go elsewhere. That will put pressure on the system. What we need is [for the] city to start putting money aside for the eventual replacement of these facilities. Closing our eyes to aging facilities is not good.”
Bay ward city councillor Theresa Kavanagh, who is also Cullen’s wife, said the news is a big disappointment and questions how oversight led to this issue not being noticed sooner.
Kavanagh said there are talks of perhaps building a new recreation centre on Queensview Drive where an OC Transpo bus depot currently stands, but that would be years away.
“It’s a very large piece of land. When we start the light rail train service out to this area, we won’t need as many locations to service buses,” the bay ward councillor said. “This would be an ideal spot for a recreation complex and it could be a great place to have a double pad.”
But that is time local hockey leagues don’t have.
Ben Lee from the West End Hockey League said they use the Belltown Arena for drills and four-on-four practice games. They practice and play only once a week respectively, but use single rink pads for more time on the ice.
Having the Britannia arena only open for a few months a year won’t be useful to the players, and will create further issues at a time when ice time is already hard to come by, said Lee.
“You’ve also got ringette, girls hockey, figure skating, and all the other city-run skating programs. It’s great. We want people on ice. It’s a national favourite pastime. But Ottawa hasn’t seen any new arenas in a long time,” he said. “In the core, all the arenas are old. We are seeing significant investments in areas in the suburbs like Kanata, Barrhaven, and Orléans. There is no plan for one in the Ottawa core.”
The league is already looking for other portions which will result in more time and money for the players. Renting the ice at Belltown cost about $200 an hour, said Lee, compared to $300-$400 for the rinks at Carleton University or the Bell Sensplex in Kanata.