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Cypress County hears report on proposed Dunmore community rink

Mar 27, 2019 | 5:13 PM

 

DUNMORE, AB – The proposed rink and community facility in Dunmore is back in the spotlight this spring, as a new business study has been released looking into the feasibility of the project.

SAGE Analytics made their presentation to Cypress County council on Tuesday, presenting a handful of potential hurdles that the county and the Prairie Rose School Division could face.

One of the biggest concerns came in the way of a youth user group, as SAGE’s stats found a decrease in population of the 5-19 year old age group who are the predominant arena users.

They also found that while the South Alberta Hockey Academy program could increase student enrolment, there is ‘no demographic evidence to suggest that there are enough users to fill the additional ice time created by the construction of another arena facility.’

However, that’s the opposite of what councillor Robin Kurpjuweit has been hearing from user groups in the area.

“Ice times right now are limited, there is not a lot of extra ice time that is available especially in the peak hours,” said Kurpjuweit. “So, we’re going to consider all of those things.”

Another point brought up was the potential impact the Dunmore facility could have on the Irvine Sports Complex.

Due to projected reduced ice rental revenue, SAGE is estimating the Irvine Sports Complex could see an annual operating loss of $45,668 per year.

The Irvine & District Ag Society runs and operates the rink, and president Craig Vossler said that would be a big hit to the complex.

“It’s going to hurt, $45,000 is one-sixth of our total income,” said Vossler.

Kurpjuweit said it will be important for Cypress County to keep facilities like the Irvine Sports Complex in mind before they make a final call on whether to approve the Dunmore project.

“Regardless of the Dunmore facility and whether that goes ahead, we still have to look at ways within the county to stabilize, to provide opportunities for growth for organizations like the facility in Irvine to be as healthy as possible,” he said.

Last September, the Prairie Rose School Division approached Cypress County about constructing a 4,600 square foot arena and community facility on land next to Eagle Butte High School.

The original estimated price tag of the facility came out to roughly $10.7 million, however SAGE has since raised that projection to around $15 million due to bumping the projected cost per square foot from $250 to $350.

However, Kurpjuweit wasn’t entirely confident in those numbers and said the cost is still yet to be determined.

As for Vossler, he said the arena would be a nice addition to the area but isn’t sure whether the local base could fill it on a daily basis.

“I don’t think that we could fill two rinks at this time,” said Vossler. “But, it would be nice to have a rink in Dunmore if there was the ice shortage that [Medicine Hat Minor Hockey] is talking about.”

Cypress County is planning to continue discussions with the Prairie Rose School Division, who are 50-50 partners in covering the cost of the project.

In a statement to CHAT News, PRSD superintendent of schools Roger Clarke lent his support to the project.

“Prairie Rose School Division continues to believe that a partnership between Cypress County and Prairie Rose is in the best interest of students and the Dunmore community. Our commitment to supporting the WD South Alberta Hockey Academy remains strong, and we have zero concerns about the viability and sustainability of the program into the future.”

“The report suggests that Dunmore does not have a youth age base to support a new arena facility. To our knowledge, the hamlet of Dunmore continues to see growth, especially with families. This growth will inevitably put pressure on the County, in future years, to meet the demand for family services in the area. We find it interesting that the findings of the report spoke mostly to the need/impact of an arena, and not a multi-use community facility, as PRSD proposed. Further, the report also did not consider the cost implications to Cypress County, should they decide to build a facility without a financial partner in the future.”

“Prairie Rose understands and appreciates that Cypress County Council will need time to review and process the report before making any decision. We look forward to furthering the conversation with them at that time.”

According to Kurpjuweit, the next step will be opening up the consultation process to the public.

“We know that it’s a substantial investment if that’s the direction that council decides to go in the end,” he said. “We can’t make that decision without involving our residents. So, step one of this new process is going to be starting off with the public consultation and that should be happening within the next few months here.”