MEDICINE HAT, AB — The iconic Medicine Hat Arena is closing down this summer.
Mayor Ted Clugston said the city is sending out an Expression of Interest form that is open to the whole community.
He said council will listen to everybody’s ideas, but in the end, the one with the best bid will be the one to take over the facility.
But the Save the Arena Committee is hoping the city will accept their offer.
They want council to hand over the keys to them so they can continue running the facility as an area for the community.
“So from the city, we would just ask them to listen to us, give us an honest ear and listen to what we have to say,” said Kris Schultz, committee member. “We feel like what we have to do is all for the right reasons, and what we want to do is all for the right reasons.”
But council has already decided that the best offer will take ownership of the facility.
With the closure of the arena as a city-operated centre, the city will save $700,000. That savings will go towards cutting $1 million out of the municipal budget by 2018.
“Council has been pretty clear that we’re in a cost-cutting mode, the reason we closed it was to save money,” said Mayor Ted Clugston.
But Schultz said they don’t want the city’s help financially, they just want the keys to the centre. He said the committee will be able to operate the facility through fundraising
“The fact of the matter is, is there is a huge amount of people backing us and people willing to do almost anything to raise money. So we would do it with fundraising and working hard like hockey people do,” said Schultz.
The Save the Arena Committee has said they are not going to give up.
“Until it’s actually closed and there’s mothballs settling in there, we’re going to have hope.”
