Lower Sackville arena won't open in winter without funding from city, operator says

A spat over funding has led to uncertainty about the future of the Sackville Community Arena in Lower Sackville, N.S., and whether it will open this winter.

The president of the Lake District Recreation Association, which operates the arena, said Tuesday that ice won't be going into the facility this season if the association doesn't get money from the Halifax Regional Municipality. 

Allan Smith said the group has been requesting an increase in funding to $100,000 a year from $50,000 since December. He said the funding would cover a number of costs, including ice installation. 

"Don't tell me you can't get together in six months and make that decision," Smith said in an interview on Tuesday. "Don't tell me that it's not going to be on the council agenda today, that it's going to be another month, because I'm not listening."

Report is close, councillor says

Paul Russell, the councillor who represents Lower Sackville, admits there has been a gap in municipal funding for the arena in the 2023-24 fiscal year but said he's been working with the group to try to come up with funding for this year. 

The issue wasn't on this week's council agenda. 

"That report is close. It is coming. It's just not here today," Russell told CBC News on Tuesday after the council meeting. 

"Because it's not here today, the LDRA has made the unfortunate decision to say that they will not be putting ice in the arena this coming winter." 

A social media post from the organization said ice would not be installed due to a lack of municipal funding. The post spurred hundreds of comments from community members that ranged from outraged to confused. 

"The ice will not be going into the Sackville Community Arena this year," the post from Tuesday read. "HRM has decided that they can only afford to support all of HRM, except Sackville. They have decided Sackville tax dollars should be spent in the rest of HRM, but not Sackville."

Russell said the post and its message came as a surprise to him.  

"So it could be essentially a way of pushing the city along," he said. "Maybe this is the association's way of making sure that it's out there, that the money has to happen."

Smith disagrees with Russell's comments that the city has been working with the arena operators. He said the councillor and the municipality have been ignoring them and delaying the presentation of a proposed agreement to Halifax regional council. 

No agreement in place

"I've asked for a new agreement and it's been 10 months and I don't have an agreement in place," Smith said. "So, I told them without an agreement, I can't put the ice in." 

A previous five-year funding agreement between the city and the recreation association expired in 2023. Smith said he approached Russell about a new agreement almost a year ago but it has yet to be presented to council.

"It was supposed to be on the agenda one month and then the next month and then the next month and then the next month," Smith said. "They just kept delaying and I think it's a deliberate delay, hoping that we'll go away." 

He said ice is typically installed before school begins in September, but it could still be put in afterward if a funding agreement is reached. 

Smith said if his group doesn't get funding from the city, its only other option is to increase recreational sport registration fees, a route the organization wants to avoid.