Birthplace of hockey to get new arena but no new museum
Paul Palmeter | CBC News | Posted: February 14, 2018 1:08 PM | Last Updated: February 14, 2018
'It's a relief to go to this next step and believe me it was a very giant step'
Residents of Windsor, N.S., now know where their new arena will be built.
Windsor town council voted Tuesday night to move forward with a plan to build a new arena at the Long Pond site near King's-Edgehill School, commonly known as the birthplace of hockey.
"It's been quite an adventure I will tell you," said Windsor Mayor Anna Allen over the long and winding road the town's new arena plan has taken.
"Sometimes it's been quite a struggle to support it and moving it forward but it's a relief to go to this next step and believe me it was a very giant step."
Council voted 4-1 in favour of the Long Pond site.
Coun. Jim Ivey put his support to build a new arena at the Hants County Exhibition Grounds.
Allen said town staff can now reach an April 1 deadline to put together a plan to submit for federal funding.
The proposed arena is estimated to cost $9 million. The Nova Scotia government has already committed $3 million while the town of Windsor and the Municipality of West Hants are each committing $1 million.
Allen said she hopes the new arena will be ready in time for the 2019-2020 hockey season.
But the new facility will not have a hockey museum, which had been previously planned. The Windsor Hockey Heritage Centre will remain in its current location at Haliburton House.
"We are happy at Haliburton House and we hope to expand there a little bit," said Trina Norman, the new president of the Windsor Hockey Heritage Centre. "We are so close to Long Pond that it makes sense to keep it in the mix."
Norman said she hopes a walking trail will be built to link the hockey museum at Haliburton House to the new arena and Long Pond.
While the new arena will not boast a hockey museum, Allen said it will have many features that will highlight the town's hockey history.
"I can see the entrance to the arena being absolutely stunning in terms of our history," said Allen. "That's the kind of thing we will need to capture with our new facility."