Meadow Lake City Council has agreed to support the construction of new stampede grounds outside of city limits (Supplied photo/City of Meadow Lake)

By Elliott Knopp

Stampede Grounds

City of Meadow Lake to support stampede ground relocation

Sep 15, 2021 | 4:13 PM

Meadow Lake City Council has agreed to a motion that would see the city provide support for the construction of new stampede grounds.

This also means a relocation of the current grounds to an area outside of city limits would be supported pending an agreement to terms with Flying Dust First Nation, the Grandstands Committee, the Rural Municipality of Meadow Lake and any other key regional stakeholders.

This decision stems from a council meeting on May 27, 2019 that saw council pass a resolution that would prevent the city from supporting a reconstruction of the stampede grounds unless the rebuild offered the community more uses than the current design.

In council chambers, Mayor Merlin Seymour stated the decision to move forward with the matter wasn’t a “hasty decision made in the evening,” but an item that has been years in the making.

“People wanted to know what’s going on, so this will give the Grandstand Committee a good heads up. We will be working together with them and other parties to make this happen,” he said.

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“We don’t, by any means, want to see [the track] go away, we’re just moving forward with the decisions that we make.”

The motion does not include a proposition to relocate the current stampede grounds to a new location, however, a relocation has been discussed in previous meetings.

When the matter was last discussed in 2019, city administration recommended the grounds be relocated, citing infrequent usage averaging less than seven days per year, heavier utilization by communities outside of Meadow Lake and untapped land potential as some of the key reasons behind the move.

The land potential became even more apparent following the fire that destroyed the Meadow Lake & District Arena back in June. Councillor Richard Levesque mentioned this fact, adding any new additions in the rebuild could be affected by the current layout.

“With the arena burning down and the fact that we have the opportunity to add some additional buildings onto a new arena, the site as it sits is just not big enough to accommodate both,” Levesque said.

Councillor Clay DeBray rebutted this statement, saying any decisions on the land can wait until more information on the new facility becomes available.

“We don’t know the size the building is going to be, so to determine there’s not going to be enough room, we don’t know that yet.”

The city is exploring the idea of constructing a multi-use facility to better serve the community, rather than just replacing the hockey arena. On Monday, council agreed to enter an agreement with SBL Contractors Ltd. on Phase 1 of the designing the facility.

While any developments currently remain in the initial stages of planning, Councillor Mauri Young believes the announcement of a willingness to continue a future development will provide those involved with a sense of relief.

“I’m pretty sure the grandstand committee and a lot of people are going to be happy that something is getting agreed on.”

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elliott.knopp@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp