(file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

NB council

North Battleford aiming to use a portion of Winter Games revenue for arena replacement study

Jan 25, 2024 | 3:00 PM

The City of North Battleford plans to apply to the Battlefords and District Community Foundation Inc. (BDCF) to help fund a study looking into replacing the aging Access Communications Centre.

Council approved administration’s recommendation to request $75,000 from the Saskatchewan Winter Games Legacy Fund from the BDCF.

The city gave the BDCF the funds from the Winter Games to use until the city required a new arena. It’s now asking for $75,000 of the funds back to complete the preliminary work for the project.

The 2018 Sask. Winter Games Legacy Fund was established with the surplus from the Saskatchewan Winter Games held in the Battlefords in 2018. Administered by the BDCF, this fund currently provides grants twice a year to projects that support sports activities for youth in the region.

The full cost of the arena replacement study is estimated to be $150,000.

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During the city’s 2024 budget discussions, administration recommended using a portion of the Winter Games revenue and an additional $75,000 from city reserves to complete the study.

The study is required so the city can apply for provincial and federal grants for the arena replacement in the future.

“I think this is important that we get this going, that we have something ready to go,” said City Manager Randy Patrick. “This is a starting point.”

Deputy Mayor Kent Lindgren said after the Winter Games, the fundraising committee met with council and agreed the surplus dollars would go towards helping support athletes, and sports in general in the interim, while the city worked towards the new arena.

“That money has been paying dividends into developing sport and recreation in our community since those 2018 Winter Games, which was a great use of the funds in the meantime,” he said. “Now we’re looking towards building an arena… this money will really help support [that effort].”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW