Delayed repairs to Truro stadium mean hockey teams must play out of town again this season

The president of a minor hockey association says there's been little communication from the Town of Truro on the repair timeline for a stadium that was damaged a year ago in post-tropical storm Fiona.

Ryan Butcher, head of the Truro Area Minor Hockey Association, said in an interview Thursday the closure of the Colchester Legion Stadium on Lorne Street has frustrated volunteers, players and their families.

The stadium was wrecked in the storm last fall, causing major damage to the roof, which led to water damage and mould on the interior.

In an update sent out this week, the Town of Truro said remediation and abatement work is currently taking place and repair work will begin later this year and into 2024.

"We have 450 players. We have 300 volunteers. It's impacting a number of people and, again, we're just one user of that facility," Butcher said.

In the past year, the association has had to "pivot" to getting ice time in neighbouring facilities in places like Debert, Brookfield, Oxford and Tatamagouche, Butcher added.

"In addition to time, it's a financial burden, as well, on our families," because of the high cost of gasoline, he said. "Hockey is already an expensive sport; that additional burden was tough."

His main concern is what he said has been "minimal communication" from the town on the repair progress. The town announced in March it was "optimistic about reopening the facility in late-August 2023," making it available for the 2023-2024 season.

Last month, however, the association learned the timeline had been pushed back.

"I don't trust it'll be open for fall of '24, at this stage," Butcher said.

Town official says repair work to begin soon

Current timeline estimates put the reopening of the stadium in August 2024 ahead of the 2024-25 season, according to Bonnie Coulter, the director of corporate services for the town.

Coulter said part of the long delay in starting to rebuild the facility has been a lengthy insurance claim process.

"It took considerable time for insurance to have the right adjusters on site to examine the damage and move forward with issuing a tender for repairs," she said. "I think what's really slowed the process down is that it was eight months from the time the hurricane happened until we actually were allowed to have boots on the ground in the facility."

Now, the remediation work is nearing completion, she added, with repair work expected to begin in the next month.

As that process has gone on, Coulter said each new item that needs to be repaired has to be documented and approved by the insurance company, further slowing down the work.

"We recognize the difficulty this is causing to our ice community," she said. "We are trying desperately to speed the process up, but it has been excruciatingly slow based on the parameters we have to work within."

She said the repair is expected to cost $2 million.

The town also wants to make the stadium more accessible to people with handicaps during the rebuild.

Community gathers to help association players

In the meantime, Butcher said the help of surrounding facilities has been crucial for the association's members.

"The neighbouring associations and arenas have been fantastic to us," he said. "It's been fantastic from these neighbouring arenas and associations to support the Truro Area Minor Hockey Association to allow our players to continue to get their allotted ice time.

"It's been great, as much as it's been frustrating."