A picture of the rink under construction. (Matt Ryan/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Meadow Lake Co-op Centre

Meadow Lake’s new arena and recreation facility info night sees good turnout

Apr 24, 2024 | 11:44 AM

It was a good night for the public to get a close-up view of the Meadow Lake’s new arena and recreation facility project Tuesday night.

An information night was held at the Meadow Lake Civic Centre, situated beside the new complex that’s currently under construction.

People had a chance to take in pictures of the plans for the new Co-op Centre as the facility will be called. They were also able to go on a guided-tour of some of the complex under development. About 50 people attending the event had a tour of the new arena and Field House being built.

Meadow Lake’s new Field House is moving along in its development. (Matt Ryan/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

Tom Gorsalitz, part of the consulting group, DCG Philanthropic Services Inc., for the project, said the facility is coming along well.

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“It’s just such a huge space,” he said. “I’m really excited to give you guys an update on the [fundraising] campaign. It’s been going great.”

Meadow Lake Co-op made a $3 million donation. From that amount, $2.5-million went to the naming rights, and the remaining $500,000 is to be matched with the community through the “CO-OP Community Builder Campaign.”

“We’re really grateful for that,” Gorsalitz said. “I’m just showing their involvement in the community in trying to inspire others to give, and trying to increase the value for donors. We met that match recently. We’re beyond excited to be able to hit that. There’s lots of exciting announcements to come in the community… It’s been really inspiring in this community — the generosity.”

City of Meadow Lake Parks and Recreation Manager Regan Beck also commented the project received grants from the provincial and federal governments that really helped it move along.

“We wouldnt have started this whole project without their contributions from the very start,” he said. “They are the initial pillar on this project.”

Beck noted when the old arena burned down in the past, the city’s first thoughts were that they would rebuild the facility and make it bigger and better, and “more useful for the entire community.” And that’s what they are doing.

The new facility will offer an arena, field house, and an events centre.

“It took a leap of faith but council supported that, and we were able to get some grants,” he said on the start of the initiative.

Beck added that Quorex Construction Services have been “fantastic to deal with” in the project build.

The project that started in 2023 is expected to be completed around late March 2025.

– With files from Matt Ryan

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @meadowlakenow