HORNEPAYNE — A planned multi-million dollar renovation of the Hornepayne Community Arena continues to move forward as residents have had their chance to weigh in on the two options.
Earlier this month, municipal officials hosted in-person public consultations with people having additional time to submit comments.
"The options are not set in stone as we take community input seriously and want residents to add comments to what the needs are and if they see potential challenges with the renovations and expansion options,” Hornepayne Mayor Cheryl Fort said.
The information gathered will be used by project consultants to prepare a report that will be brought to Hornepayne's council.
Fort said the driving force behind the arena expansion is the community, which she said needs spaces for a library and weight room facility.
The community needs have changed over time, Fort added. The arena was originally built in the late 1970s.
“Our town took a hard blow when the Hallmark shuttered. As a community we have taken steps to recover over the last decade,” Fort said. “When the closure happened, we had to absorb the library and weight room facility into two other existing spaces within the municipality,” she said. “We are excited as a municipality to be able to update parts of our current arena facility and transform it into a community hub.”
The project is estimated to cost about $4.6 million, she added. It was announced last year that the project was receiving contributions of $1.87 million from the federal government, along with another $1.5 million from the province.
