The groups, representing both minor and junior sports clubs, say that the addition of a second surface in the town will be a boon to their programs and will be economically beneficial to the community.

“This will make it easier for us to maintain our programs,” said Doug Howell, director-at-large for the Huntsville Skating Club. “We have been growing the last couple of years and we are always in fear we will use lose ice time. With a second pad we won’t have that fear anymore.”

“We are really excited about the possibility of having that second pad,” said Huntsville Minor Hockey Association (HMHA) president John Litchfield.  

The need for a second arena facility in this town has been a contentious point for user groups for years now. A subcommittee struck last year by the town’s parks and recreation committee presented a 100-plus-page report, stating there is a need for a second arena surface in the town and that it should be built adjacent to the Jack Bionda Arena.

“Input from user groups indicates that programs for school-aged children will be expanded, which will offset the decrease in numbers and also that current out-of-town bookings will be returned to Huntsville. A severe shortage of time for girls and women will be corrected, and multiple requests for more time by adult users will be satisfied. More opportunity for revenue-generating tournaments and special events will exist, which benefits both the sponsoring groups and the business community in general. Town staff has indicated that the availability of more time will expedite program planning and expansion. Finally, more time will be available for casual and infrequent renters,” according to the report.

In August it was announced that the town would be proposing a media centre for the 2010 G8 Summit, to be hosted at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, which could be converted into a second ice surface.

A working group is proposing three arena options for the community. The first option is for an 85’ by 200’ second ice pad with 1,400 seats added onto the Jack Bionda Arena. The second is for a larger Olympic-sized 100’ by 200’ ice pad with 1,400 seats to be added on, and the third is for a new facility to be constructed on a seven-acre parcel of land.

All three options include energy retrofits and upgrades to the existing centennial centre.

Option 1 or 2 would cost roughly $14 million to complete, including a $250,000 upgrade to Lion’s Lookout, $3 million to renovate the existing centennial centre, $1 million for two pedestrian bridges across the Muskoka River to the Mountview waste water treatment facility, $500,000 for parking infrastructure and $100,000 to relocate the existing playground.

Option 3 was est at $23 million, including $3 million to purchase a new property and $3 million to renovate the existing centennial centre.

The need for a second facility has been an issue for several years in the community ever since the municipality favoured

Officials from the various user groups met with town representatives last week to discuss the preliminary plans for the second arena pad.

Perhaps no one is more relieved about the possibility of a second surface than Litchfield. HMHA spend a great deal of its ice rental money outside of the community at arenas in Burk’s Falls and Baysville for tournaments, games and practices because there is insufficient times available for the group at the Jack Bionda Arena. He estimates that the association spends around $50,000 annually in rental fees outside of Huntsville, which constitutes about one-third of its total ice rental budget.

“I know a lot of centres may have their enrollment drop off a bit now and then, but ours increased yet again to around 450 kids. We also have a lot of our one-day tournaments in Baysville, and a number of the teams stay in Bracebridge so our Huntsville merchants and hotels lose out.”

Currently the Huntsville Skating Club has two events annually booked for the Jack Bionda Arena, the Skokie Skate in October and the year-end carnival. Howell said that the new pad will allow the skating club to tender on more competitions, which will generate more revenue for his group and the town as well.

“There are regional events I know we could vie on if we had two pads, which would be very worthwhile for everybody, “ he said.

Finances are not the only issue involved with the second arena pad. Programs such as the Huntsville and District Minor Lacrosse Association (HDMLA) and the Huntsville Hawks junior B club are handcuffed in how they are able to prepare for their respective seasons with the lack of quality floor time at the jack Bionda Arena.

Anne Curley, the president of the junior Hawks, says her team can’t get onto the floor until the middle of April, which is not good considering the Ontario lacrosse Association season begins just a few weeks later.

“Any opportunity for players to start training, practicing and pre-season games would be extremely beneficial.  Most teams are able to provide their players with on floor time early in January or February and start playing games in March.”

HDMLA president Shelly Nobile said that her teams are not able to get on the floor until the second  week of April at the earliest, depending on how the various rep hockey teams do in their playoffs.

“Other clubs have already played games when we are holding our first practice and we have to go to Baysville to practice before provincial championships. With Baysville being under construction we had teams that had to practice on privately owned tennis courts to keep in shape for provincial championships. With a second pad we would be able to get a better jump on the season and be in better form for provincials.”

Nobile said that the second pad would also accommodate the association’s growing house league program and allow the rep teams the extra practices they need.

“From a financial standpoint we would be able to run larger tournaments as well as apply to host provincial championships. On average families spend between $600-$700 in the host towns of the tournaments that we attend, usually more and it would be nice to have more of this money being spent in Huntsville rather than leaving it,” she said.

Ted Magee agrees that having a second pad would mean more money coming into the community. The general manager of the Huntsville Muskoka Otters junior A hockey club said his organization could seriously consider bidding on league events such as the annual College Showcase, the league’s all-star game, and the Dudley Hewitt Cup tournament, which would bring in substantial revenue to the town.

“That is on my mind already. I know it would be a few years down the road but it would give us the option of doing that and you couldn’t get a better town for the Dudley,” he said. “It opens a lot of doors for us.”

Magee said the two pads would also mean the club could consider doing away with its out-of-town preseason training camps and expanding its own Cottage Cup tournament, held every August.