Centennial Expansion Needs Your Help

Centennial Expansion Update – May 20, 2010

BUILDING GOALS BUILDING COMMUNITY

Hi hockey players, ringette players, parents and fans. It’s hard to imagine but registration for the 2010 -11 hockey season is upon us and it will be another exciting season with all the drama that is associated with player allocation, Esso minor hockey week, tournaments and city championships. Arguably the high-light of this year will be the grand opening of your third arena at the Centennial Complex which is estimated to be March, 2011.

If you have been at the arena recently you are aware that construction is well underway on your third arena.  JUST BECAUSE CONSTRUCTION HAS STARTED IT DOESN’T MEAN WE ARE DONE. The owners/sponsors of the new arena; Mount Royal University, Trails West and Glenlake/Elbow Park (Glenlake) have secured long term debt and a construction loan from ATB  in order to ensure that we could start the project and have it ready for the spring of 2011. It is very important that we all work together to raise the remaining funds in order to keep Trails West and Glenlake hockey programs as affordable as they currently are. The financing, securing and managing of the grants from the three levels of government is complicated and requires significant planning and coordination. We have been successful in “stick-handling” through this tricky phase but we now need your help in “scoring the goal” that will win us the cup.

The bottom line is that we do not have the funds to finish the project. The arena expansion will cost $17,000,000; with government funding, sponsorship, corporate and philanthropic gifts to date totaling $15,085,000 that leaves $1,915,000 to be raised between now and March 2011. If we, as users of the arenas, are not successful in raising more funds our current hockey association operating models are not sustainable and we will have to increase our fees. We need your ideas, volunteerism and dollars to help to raise the remaining funds to complete the project.

To provide all users, parents and fans an opportunity to be part of this exciting project we are looking for volunteers from Trails West, Glenlake, Mount Royal and the greater community to assist with the CENTENNIAL ARENAS BUILDING GOALS BUILDING COMMUNITY Fundraising Phase. The Campaign will run from August 2010 to March 2011.

To volunteer please contact Devin Chatterjee at devin@rosswmarsh.com