Arena is expected to be ready for use the week of December 16; dressing rooms to follow

The Municipality of Jasper is responding to a letter writing campaign from frustrated hockey parents. 

On Tuesday, councillor Wendy Hall noted that 16 letters from hockey families, including the president of Jasper Minor Sports, had been received by municipal council. The letter writers demanded to know when the arena would be open and requested clarity on the ongoing improvements to the boards surrounding the ice surface, Hall said. 

“There are legitimate concerns from families that the boards are unsafe,” said Hall, who added an arena update to the agenda at the November 19 council meeting.

Chief Administrative Officer Bill Given responded to Hall’s questions, explaining that the boards, which were installed in late 2020/early 2021 as part of a $1.47 million slab and boards replacement project, unfortunately required significant improvements. Inadequate footings meant when the boards flexed (a standard requirement in modern rink-construction), the ice got chipped away, creating a safety risk the municipality couldn’t ignore. 

“It was a hazard that needed to be addressed,” Given said.

The plan was to address the deficiency over the summer, but “obviously the wildfire and evacuation in the middle of summer threw that off,” Given said.

The wrench in contractor scheduling resulted in a reduced workforce assigned to the boards improvement project—and thus a delay in its completion, Given explained.

Adding to the challenges has been a turnover in staff—longtime arena manager Peter Bridge’s last day was July 12, and Given said that even if the wildfire didn’t occur, “it would still be a year of adjustments for a new team.”

Meanwhile, council learned that other critical components of the arena re-opening continue to progress. On Tuesday (Nov 19), the ice plant was scheduled to be started up for the slab-cooling process (a 48 hour process), which in turn would allow for the 10-day ice-making job to begin. The rink flooding began today (Friday, Nov 22).

After the ice is finished, additional work to ensure the arena is safe and ready for play may take up to a week, according to an update to ice users sent out by MOJ staff. A Nov 15 update noted dressing room completion will follow the successful flooding of the rink, and that Carlson Construction is on target to turn over all dressing rooms and off-ice areas to the MOJ by the third week of December.

Given said staff expect the arena to be ready for use the week of December 16.

“We’re working as hard as possible and a quickly as possible to get our ice users back on the ice and would never put anybody on the ice if it couldn’t be made safe,” Given said.

Updates on the entire $20.4 million Jasper Activity Centre and Arena renovation project are provided every week on the municipality’s website. 

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com