Build multiplex in right spot, and soon, say hockey families
Cambridge badly needs modern ice facilities
CAMBRIDGE — At ice rinks across the city, Cambridge parents sit in the stands with a Tim Hortons coffee in hand to watch their children toss around a hockey puck.
With two minor hockey leagues and scores of other teams across the city, it’s no wonder some parents complain it can be hard to get prime ice time at the nicer arenas.
The nicer arenas, such as Galt Arena Gardens and Hespeler Memorial Arena, book up fast.
And the other four facilities are mostly just a crumbling disgrace. Bring on the multiplex, hockey parents say. Cambridge desperately needs it.
For five or six days a week, these parents of young hockey players trudge their eager children from one aging arena to another.
They want a state-of-the-art sports facility with multiple ice pads. Something they can show off with pride when visiting teams come to town.
Paul Lay travels across the province for tour-
naments with his two hockey-playing sons, aged 10 and 12, from Brantford’s shiny Wayne Gretzky Centre to the stellar Bell Sensplex in Ottawa.
“Every city has better facilities than us. … Our rinks are embarrassing,” he said as he watches his 10-year-old slide across the ice at Preston Memorial Auditorium.
“It’s embarrassing for when (visiting) teams come here.
“Just look at these seats,” he said, pointing to the peeling orange paint on old arena seats.
Hockey parents like Lay don’t just want a better arena.
Like many others in Cambridge, they also want it in a central spot, easy to get to with their little hockey players and big hockey bags several times a week.
“We don’t have enough ice time and have to use private arenas, like the Cambridge Ice Center,” Amanda Hellyer said as she chases after her toddler at Preston Memorial Auditorium while her son was on the ice.
But she wanted to know why the city wanted to build their pride-and-joy arena so close to Kitchener. She’s not the only one who’s wondered about that.
The multiplex controversy over the past year has been all about where to put it.
It’s the most money the city will spend on a single project to date.
With a price tag sitting around the $80-million mark, it’s a steep penny for taxpayers.
For 20 years, the idea of a large, multi-use sports facility has been a dream for the city. The plan is to decommission two existing ice rinks, Karl Homuth and Duncan McIntosh arenas, when the multiplex is complete.
But the project has faced delays and frustrated some hockey families in the city.
Council was set to vote on a land lease with Conestoga College in the fall following consultations and a task force, but it has now been postponed until next year.
And when a new location for the already-approved facility has been picked there may be more years of waiting, depending on the site chosen.
If contaminated, it would need studies and a thorough cleanup.
If it has environmental setbacks, several studies and approvals would be required.
Maybe the city will want to explore grant options and seek federal or provincial funds.
And after all of this, the large, several acres-wide building will need to be built.
These parents don’t want to wait forever to be able to sit in the stands of a shiny new facility to watch their children slide across brand new ice pads.
“Make a decision and let’s do this,” Lay said.
“By the time this is built, my 10-year-old will be 15, 16. … If they take too long he’ll be playing in beer leagues.”
And they want Cambridge, not Kitchener, to reap the rewards of a quality sportsplex.
Joanne Asprey has seen arenas with bars and nice eateries inside them when she takes her 10-year-old son on tournaments.
It’s a place for families to kill time on those long tourney days.
“If you build a beautiful multiplex, put (some) restaurants in it and a bar and make money,” she said.
Asprey moved to the city from Burlington six years ago. She admits she doesn’t get the Hespeler, Galt, Preston rivalry. But she’s learned one thing.
“Cambridge is such a hockey city … but these arenas are terrible.”
And despite the city’s old rivalries, she also thinks it needs to put this sportsplex in the right spot, close to hotels and restaurants.
Parents lamented about visiting teams poking fun at the state of the city’s arenas. Like when a team from Hamilton arrived at the Dickson Centre a few weeks ago.
“They just laughed,” Lay recalled, shaking his head.
There wasn’t enough space in the change rooms. Not even for hockey bags.
It’s a feeling Jen Fletcher knows all too well. Her nine-year-old goalie son once had to change in a closet with the visiting team’s goalie because of this lack of space.
“It’s an embarrassment really,” she said. “It’s more important to have a facility that can be used than the cost.”
Last week the multiplex task force heard that residents think cost, access, timing, community impact and site size are important.
The multiplex task force is expected to present a list of recommended sites to council in late November or early December.
A decision on the controversial land lease with Conestoga College and where to build the multiplex will come in the new year.
The question isn’t whether or not a multiplex will be built in Cambridge.
The question right now is where and when.