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Cranbrook, BC (October 12, 2023) – Residents may notice equipment and activity at the Memorial Arena as assessments of the foundation and the wall structure of the facility are underway this week by a contracted engineer, further to the roof structure assessment completed in late September 2023. 

The engineer will provide their preliminary findings for the roof structure to Council at their regular meeting on Monday, October 16, 2023, including a discussion on the next steps, with the full assessment report coming forward to Administration at a later date. This will include a safe entry protocol, which will allow user groups to recover items that are currently stored inside the Memorial Arena. 

Back on September 26, 2023, following preliminary investigations by a contracted professional engineer, the City announced the closure of the Memorial Arena for all public use for the rest of the season due to structural concerns with the roof structure.

While this additional assessment work is underway, staff has been reorganizing programming and ice schedules to accommodate as many user groups as possible. Of the 30 regular user groups who use ice time in Cranbrook, 21 have opted for ice time, while the 9 adult user groups have opted out. All youth user groups have been accounted for and have scheduled ice time. 

The ice surface at Western Financial Place is booked from 5:15 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. seven days per week to accommodate as many user groups as possible, with some nearby communities offering available ice time at their facilities.

“I want to thank Canal Flats, the City of Kimberley and our neighbouring communities for their generous support in helping provide additional ice time at their facilities to players and teams,” says Trevor Thors, Director of Recreation and Culture. 

The City is also examining other options to provide additional ice surfaces, including a possible temporary ice plant specifically for the Kinsmen Arena. This is to be confirmed with the overall plan for next steps. Even with no ice surface at the Kinsmen Arena, there is a wait list for user groups who want to use the space for dryland training and other activities.

All regular Council meetings can be viewed on our website through a live-stream @ https://cranbrook.ca/livestream/.