Lucas Punkari
Although the expected completion date isn’t until November, the anticipation on Couchiching First Nation already is beginning to build over the arena now being constructed there.
“This is something that has been in the works here for a long time, and now that it has come to fruition here, there’s a lot of excitement about it,” said band manager Smokey Bruyere.
“The First Nation and the town people have all been excited, and anyone that I have talked to here about it has been saying a lot of good things about it,” noted site project manager Rod Nichols, who works for Trifecta Construction of Thunder Bay.
Although it has been discussed for quite a while, the band decided last year to go through with the arena project, which is being built next to the day care centre there.
“Part of why we decided to do it now was the fact that we had the money to go ahead and do it, as that is always the clincher in making things happening,” Bruyere explained.
“Plus, we have felt for a while now that we needed one to make sure that the kids here have the access to do something here, which is the band membership’s whole reason for doing this.
“If the kids want to use the facilities in Fort Frances, they have to pay the extra fees that anyone who is from out of town does,” he noted.
“We have felt like we should have our own rink here for a while now, and this will be for the residents that are out here, along with for whoever else would like to pay the ice time in order to use it,” Bruyere added.
Construction originally was supposed to begin back in October next to the Couchiching Bingo Palace, but issues with that site led to a change of locations.
“There was a clay base on that [first] site, and with Rainy Lake nearby, it ended up being so soft there that it wouldn’t hold up an arena as big and as heavy as the one we are building here,” Nichols explained.
“So as that original site failed, we looked into moving out here to the current site with the rock base. And after the samples came back, we came out here in December.
“So far everything has been going great here,” he added.
The arena will be a 400-seat facility, with the ice pad being the same size as a current NHL regulation rink (85 x 200 ft.), along with five change rooms.
With a new rink coming to the area, it’s unknown yet what affect it would have on the Memorial Sports Centre in Fort Frances as the opening of the building wouldn’t take place
until after the start of the 2012/13 hockey season if the construction continues on schedule.
Among the main tenants at the Ice For Kids Arena are the Fort Frances Lakers of the SIJHL, who also made their home there under previous incarnations as the Borderland Thunder and the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres, and the Fort Frances Thunderhawks senior men’s team, which has been playing games there for the last three years.
“At this point in time, we have yet to be approached in regards to playing there [at Couchiching],” said Lakers’ president Milt Strachan.
“And that hasn’t even been discussed in this point,” he stressed.
“To be honest, if it ever did happen where we would move to a new rink, it would probably be because of ice time wasn’t available at the Ice For Kids Arena, and that hasn’t been an issue for us,” Strachan added.
“Couchiching has always been a big supporter of the team, but we haven’t had any formal talks about playing there or anything like that,” echoed Thunderhawks’ co-manager Travis Green.
“Ice time is something which is at a premium to get in the area, especially for a senior team as the majority of the ice time is basically reserved for minor hockey,” he noted.
“Anywhere that we could get ice time would be an option for us, especially as it would be very beneficial in allowing us to start up earlier than we do now,” Green conceded.
George Bell, manager of Community Services for the Town of Fort Frances, declined to comment when asked if a rink at Couchiching would affect the Ice For Kids Arena or the ’52 Canadians Arena in any way down the road.
In the meantime, the band just wants to make sure that people will be using the rink when it’s completed.
“Personally, we hope that everyone who wants to use it is able to use it,” Bruyere said.
“Our main thing right now is to get the interest, and I think that is something that is out there in regards to ice time,” he remarked.
“There might be people who are questioning why they would build an arena, but I think it’s a case of if you build it, they will come,” reasoned Green.
Bruyere also noted the band will be hiring an arena manager, along with caretakers and other staff members, in the coming months.
But an actual date for those positions to come open has yet to be decided.
