Edmonton Ski Club to reopen Feb. 1 with financial help from province and city

With a little help from the province, and a little boost from the city, the Edmonton Ski Club will open its slopes Feb. 1.

According to a Facebook post, the club will be open Feb. 1 to March 31 on Thursdays and Fridays from 4:30 to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“I have to give huge credit to the province,” said Coun. Ben Henderson on Monday. “They were the ones who stepped in and added their resources to ours to help make this happen. The province is coming in with money. I can’t tell you how much.”

Last November, the 106-year-old facility on Connors Hill at 9613 96 Avenue posted a note to the door saying the club was going to close its doors after the City of Edmonton had given notice to terminate the club’s lease agreement effective Dec. 10.

“We never wanted it to go,” Henderson said. “We just couldn’t release the funds unless they could operate.”

The city will be giving the club $217,000 for the balance of the 2017-2018 season.

Of that amount, $50,000 has been released immediately, and the balance of $167,000 will be released once the conditions are figured out, he said.

The club grappled with a number of financial difficulties.

Henderson said it was originally Premier Rachel Notley who asked him how the province could help out with the ski club, and then he worked with Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt, who represents the constituency of Edmonton-Gold Bar.

“All credit goes to them to being able to come to the table and join us to make sure that they could reopen again,” he said.

The province was interested in the issue because they heard from a lot of Edmontonians and felt the issue was important on many levels, Henderson said.