YORKTON - Work will finally begin on a series of upgrades to the Kinsmen Arena in Yorkton.
The final day of regular operations for the current season Dec. 23, the day included public skating, and then an opportunity to ‘paint the ice’ an activity which attracted many.
“We turned the ice plant off after that skate and paint event,” said Taylor Morrison, Director of Recreation and Community Services with the city.
The building is scheduled to be turned over to the PCL Construction Management Jan. 2, so they can begin the planned renovations and upgrades, a process Morrison said is anticipated to take “about nine months.” He said the goal is to have the arena work complete and ready for the start of the 2025-26 hockey season in September.
As for the current season Morrison said Yorkton Minor Hockey was aware the arena would be out of service to start 2025, and had prepared by having some tournaments earlier than usual at the Kinsmen. He said in addition hours of operations at the Westland Insurance Arena have been expanded – earlier in the morning and later at night – to facilitate extra ice times to compensate for the loss of the Kinsmen Arena.
Even with the above planning Morrison said some Yorkton minor hockey games will be played in neighbouring community rinks – which was part of the planning to close the Kinsmen at this time of year to ensure natural ice rinks could be accessed.
“We worked with minor hockey as to when was the best time to shut the rink down,” said Morrison.
The work will include removal of the cement floor and piping in the ice area and its replacement, as well as new boards and glass and other related work, said Morrison.
It was earlier this year at a Council meeting, that Council was presented with the bid results for the Kinsmen Arena Ice Systems Upgrades project, and directed Administration to proceed with issuing PCL Construction the tender for the Kinsmen Arena Ice Systems Upgrades Project.
Council directed administration to proceed with the Kinsmen Arena Ice Systems Upgrades project with a project budget of $4,516,157.52, including PST.
The bid received from PCL Construction was identified as best value, as it was the lowest bid received.
The Kinsmen Arena Ice System project is being internally funded by the Recreation Levy over the next several years.
Including all identified project changes -- Deer Park clubhouse and work at the Gallagher Centre -- the Recreation Levy is allocated through 2030.
The annual Recreation Levy amounts to approximately $1.15 million dollars.
Overall the project fits with a broader city vision.
Completing the Kinsmen Arena Ice System Upgrades project is supported by the Infrastructure and Community Development goals of the Official Community Plan, explained Morrison. The project is further supported by Yorkton Kinsmen Arena Facility and Assessment Feasibility Study (2019), and the Parks & Recreation Master Plan (2023) which identified upgrades to the facility as essential to the continued use and support of ice programming within the community.
