Residents of Indus are hoping the provincial government will help drop the puck on a second ice sheet for their local community recreation centre.
The new ice sheet would cost an estimated $7.5 million, but that amount is difficult to raise in a small hamlet of just 100 people. David Place, president of the Bow Valley Agricultural Society (which runs the Indus Recreational Centre), said the expansion is absolutely vital to meet the needs of its own citizens and those from other communities who use the facility.
He said the Bow Valley Agricultural Society has been working on an application for provincial dollars for the project, but they have had limited success in catching the province’s attention the past two years.
Ever the optimist, Place hopes that maybe this year will be the year.
“The last two years, unfortunately, our application was denied,” he said. “The province was in a deficit budget, but I am optimistic that possibly they will have more funds for discretionary distribution all across the province …
“Certainly, bake sales won’t get us to $7.5 million.”
Place is grateful to Rocky View County for recognizing the importance of the Indus Recreation Centre’s expansion in the municipality’s recreational assessment review in 2021.
“The County adopted the recommendations of the consultants, which identified there is an ice arena priority for southeast Rocky View,” Place confirmed.
And it is not like local support has been entirely absent from the process, with the Bow Valley Agricultural Society working on this project dedicatedly for the past 12 years as local population growth pushed user numbers at the hamlet’s rec centre to their limit.
“We recognize southeast Rocky View has grown,” said Place. “The growth has been significant. The Indus Rec. Centre is the home ice for Indus Minor Hockey and Indus Minor Ringette, as well as local figure skating and adult user groups for both hockey and ringette.
“It’s a very vibrant and active centre, but we just don’t have enough ice availability for users of all ages,” Place said.
He noted some local private donors have stepped up to help with the William S. Herron Family Charitable Foundation donating $50,000 per year over 10 years toward the expansion of the facility.
More recently, the Lamb Family Foundation agreed to provide yearly donations of $25,000 for the next five years toward the project.
The Bow Valley Ag Society board has also invested funds to complete all the site planning for the expansion, and has recently greenlit funding to get all the necessary building and development permits approved should those much-hoped for provincial dollars suddenly materialize.
“It’s a bold step, but we want to be actually recognized as shovel-ready,” Place said.
