Sask. town puts 'heart of the community' on auction due to growing costs, COVID-19 shutdown
After 15 years operating the Aberdeen Recreation Complex, the town is looking for a buyer to take over the burden of repairing and revitalizing the centre from taxpayers.
“One idea the board came up with was to basically find a community partner to come in, revitalize this rink and make it become the heart of the community again,” said Aberdeen Mayor Ryan White.
“It does need some infrastructure upgrades and that, coupled with maintaining the mortgage on it has put some undue stress on the tax base, so we’re looking for some opportunities that we can deal with that in another way without burdening our tax base.”
Currently funded by the Town and Rural Municipality of Aberdeen, White said a volunteer board of directors manage the centre’s operations.
He said growing infrastructure costs and maintenance, coupled with a global pandemic that forced the town to close the complex for several months, forced the board to look at alternatives to fund the centre.
“How do you operate a community hub when the community can’t gather? When you can’t have sports teams, weddings, bonspiels. It makes it very difficult,” White said.
“It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, basically it came to a point where we had to make a decision either we had to greatly increase our commitment from the Town and the RM.”
The facility spans 70,000 square feet and includes an ice hockey rink, the home of the Aberdeen Flames, four curling sheets, exercise rooms, a lounge and spectator seating on the top and bottom levels.
White said pre-COVID, the ice was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
“You could come out here on a 35-degree day, kids from the school would be here skating in shorts and t-shirts, so that wears on equipment.”
Currently on McDougall Auctioneers Ltd., there’s a bid of $160,000. According to the listing online, all offers are subject to the approval and acceptance by the Aberdeen and District Charities Inc. board of directors and the highest or any bid will not necessarily be accepted.
The auction closes July 30 at 1 p.m.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
College students, inmates and a nun: A unique book club meets at one of America's largest jails
An unconventional book club inside one of America's largest jails brings college students and inmates together to tackle books that resonate with the mostly Black and Latino group members.