A preferred site has been announced for the potential construction of a new arena in Grunthal.

Back in May, council for the Rural Municipality of Hanover announced a new arena for Grunthal as its greatest need in terms of new recreation facilities. The facility has been estimated to cost $11 million, though several funding conditions must be met before shovel goes into the ground.

Lisa Baldwin is Manager of Recreation and Community Services for Hanover. She says one-third of the total cost of the project must be secured through a provincial grant, one-third must be secured through a federal grant and one-third through the municipal portion. Of the municipal portion, one-third would come through local fundraising, with the remaining two-thirds being borrowed through a local improvement district.

Baldwin says the funding would need to be in place by 2023 and all the parameters met before this project is to move forward. If by January 1, 2023 the funding is not in place, the project would be re-evaluated and plans to decommission the current Grunthal arena would be considered.

A steering committee has been established which has identified three potential sites for the arena. And through this process, the northern section of the Hanover Ag Grounds has been named as the preferred site for this new facility. Baldwin says the steering committee has decided on a design build process and will soon look for community input.

According to Baldwin, there is a chance this arena would be a joint venture between two municipalities. The RM of De Salaberry has contacted Hanover about potentially building an arena together.

"The councils and our steering committee, everybody is open and positive about the idea," says Baldwin. "Now we're just trying to delve a little deeper into some of those discussions."

She says there was some early discussion between the two municipalities about building the arena outside of Grunthal. But Baldwin says there is a real desire to have this facility built within that community.

The steering committee consists of Curtis Dawydiuk, Jody Milburn, Kendall Neufeld, Paul Wiebe, Henry Funk, Luc Lahaie and Lisa Baldwin. Baldwin says they are in the process of developing online surveys and would really like to hear what all residents think about this facility. She says it is supposed to be a multi-use facility that could be used by everyone in the community.

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