The new cement floor at the Brooke-Alvinston Arena is starting to freeze. The facility, built in 1977, is reaching its end of life with critical repairs needed to the rink floor and refrigeration room. With pinholes in the pipes, the municipality needed to be proactive when it came to the only ice surface in the community. “It would be shut down for a couple of weeks if you have a major catastrophe,” said Dave Ferguson, mayor of Brooke-Alvinston. “If that’s the middle of February or hitting a playoff time, it’s going to just wreck everything. So, when you can plan ahead and the ice came in, the cement came in and the boards on budget and on time. That is phenomenal for the small community,” said Ferguson. Work began on the arena floor project back in May and continues to progress. “The quotes came back at $1.1 million,” said Ferguson. “The grant from Ontario (Ontario community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund) is half of 2 million, so we could get up to $1 million of grant money matched dollar for dollar. This was cost effective when the tenders came in and when you’re able to include the boards in it, the total project would be about $1.5 million. Half from the government, half from the township.” With roads and bridges to pay for, the Municipality did not want to include the repair costs on the tax bill of the 2,350 residents. They started the Alvinston Arena Floor Fund (AAFF) immediately and with sponsors, and private donors included, they are making a significant dent in the goal. “We’re at about $450,000 so far,” said Jill Joris, fundraising manager for Brooke-Alvinston. “Our goal is $1 million. We have some deals in the works as well, so hopefully those will pan out.” A major boost came this weekend when the London Knights approached the Municipality about hosting an exhibition game to help raise money for the AAFF. With the arena under construction, the neighbouring community of Watford allowed them to host the game free of charge. The 650 tickets were snapped up quickly with the game being played in the hometown of Knights forward, Evan Van Gorp. “Everywhere I went I just knew pretty much everybody because of the small town,” said Mike Van Gorp, Evan’s father. “Everybody was coming up and talking to me and Melissa and the atmosphere was just great.” One reason the game was so exciting was to see that calibre of play in a small venue. “Everyone is so close to the ice and it is a very small ice surface,” said Mike. “A lot of the comments were, ‘I can’t believe how fast it is’ and how ‘great the players are and how skilled they are to make decisions in such a small rink like that’. It was pretty cool.” With help from Sarnia-Lambton Tourism, additional fan-friendly activities were held around the arena hours prior to puck drop. “There were tons of fans in the stands,” said Joris. “We had a few at the watch party as well. There were a silent auction and raffle and the donations for that were incredible. My heart grew three sizes that day.” Small-town arenas are not just skating and hockey. They host the fall fair, baseball and even the rodeo. The hope is that the donations from the AAFF will prolong the life of the building for generations. “We replaced the cement and we’re going to do the boards next spring,” said Ferguson. “The ice pad and the boards will be all freshly redone by this time in 2027.”
