After a frozen skating and curling season and a lost chance at Kraft Hockeyville funds, Enderby's skating and curling facility has made a comeback, right on time.
The Enderby Arena was closed in January due to a malfunctioning refrigeration system, cutting short both the skating and curling season and leaving groups that use the facility scrambling to find ice time at neighbouring rinks.
During the rink closure the city was a finalist for Kraft Hockeyville, which provides $250,000 for rink upgrades to a community in need each year, with a few finalist communities voted on by the public. Enderby's bid fell short, with Eliot Lake, ON, named Kraft Hockeyville champion.
While the Hockeyville funds would have helped, Enderby Mayor Huck Galbriath said at the time that the city would push forward with repairs and reopen the facility in time for the 2024-25 skating season.
Galbraith's statement has been fulfilled, as the Enderby Arena reopened Monday, Sept. 16, which is around the time the arena would open in any given year.
"It was pretty smooth sailing," Galbraith told The Morning Star Tuesday, saying the repairs weren't as difficult to manage as they could have been.
Galbraith said the repairs meant that lacrosse teams couldn't use the facility during their regular season, but is happy to have both the skating and curling sides of the facility up and running again.
"It's unfortunate that we didn't have lacrosse in there this year because they were working on it, but it definitely is a Godsend that it's reopened, and the brunt of the repairs wasn't as expensive as we thought it might be," he said.
Public skating has already started at the arena and the ice season is on until March 16, 2025. For a schedule as well as registration for skating lessons, visit enderbyrecreation.com/arena.
