Meadow Lake City Council is moving forward with the early stages of developing a multi-use facility following an expected fire that destroyed the former arena (pictured). (Elliott Knopp/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Elliott Knopp

Arena Development

Meadow Lake City Council begins arena replacement process

Sep 14, 2021 | 3:27 PM

Nearly three months after losing one of the community’s most treasured landmarks in an unexpected fire, Meadow Lake City Council is making its first strides to develop a replacement for the Meadow Lake & District Arena.

In Monday’s meeting, council voted to enter an agreement with SBL Contractors Ltd. for Phase 1 of the design process proposal. In this phase, the city will work with the contracting company on an initial draft for the new facility. At the same time, the city will seek out any grants it may be eligible for with building the facility and consult stakeholders on how to move forward.

Councillor Richard Levesque explained by entering this agreement, the city will have the opportunity to assemble all of the items required in grant program applications, whereas the city may not meet eligibility requirements otherwise.

“The intent of this was to get everything moving so that if we do have access to some major grants to pay for a multi-use facility, this will allow us to have a plan for it,” he said.

According to city documents, council believes the current situation has provided the city with an opportunity to construct a multi-use facility that would serve the community in a much larger capacity than a hockey arena would.

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Early suggestions have the new arena bringing several potential additions, including a fieldhouse and community events centre. The estimated cost of the new facility is being projected between $30 to $40 million, however, nothing has been confirmed, drafted or submitted.

Mayor Merlin Seymour stated while the city is entering the first phase of planning with a contractor, the remaining phases do not have an agreement as council is focusing on gathering information and assets throughout the early stages of the project.

“We don’t want to be tied to a specific company at this point in time because we’re just at the drawing stages,” he said.

“They were okay with providing us with Phase 1, and I’m pretty sure they would love to do Phase 2 and 3, but our main objective is to have something in place when any grant comes forward.”

SBL Contractors Ltd. is also currently working with Thunderchild First Nation on the construction of a new community wellness centre.

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elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp