FILE PHOTO
Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
July 09, 2021 - 7:00 PM
The Osoyoos Indian Band has joined forces with the towns Osoyoos and Oliver to apply for grant funding to pay for a new arena in the region.
The band has been working with Stantec Architecture and Wintersport to look at the feasibility of a multi-rink National Indigenous Hockey Legacy Initiative arena.
“The Osoyoos Indian Band appreciates any opportunity to collaborate with our neighbouring municipalities for the betterment of the region,” the band’s development corporation COO Mike Campol said in a media release. “Organized sport, exercise and active lifestyle amenities are crucial to our collective goal of maintaining healthy communities.”
The three local governments are applying to the federal government’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program. If the application is successful, the program would provide 100 per cent of the funding for the new facility.
The band argues existing arenas in the region are old and no longer energy efficient and would need serious dollars to become sustainable.
The National Indigenous Hockey Legacy Initiative is an opportunity to build and operate sustainable arena, not just for Indigenous communities, but to serve surrounding municipalities facing a lack of ice surfaces.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to provide the infrastructure to meet future recreational needs in a cost effective manner,” Oliver Mayor Martin Johansen said in the release.
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the band and Oliver.
“This regional initiative underscores our commitment to finding sustainable, cost-effective solutions to the provision of community amenities that serve all our communities and their residents,” McKortoff said in the release.
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