Figure skaters and hockey players in Saanich got what they were asking for Monday night as Saanich council directed staff to consider including an arena in renewal plans for Lambrick Park athletic facilities.
Council voted unanimously in favour of a directive to consider adding an arena at Lambrick, or look to other venues in the municipality.
“It’s very clear we have a very large and growing need for new ice sheets or multiple ice sheets in the region and in Saanich that’s only exacerbated by the loss of the Ian Stewart Complex,” said Mayor Dean Murdock.
The complex, home to Victoria Racquet Club Kings Minor Hockey Association and the Racquet Club of Victoria Skating Club, is due to be closed by the University of Victoria in 2026 to make way for housing.
“I think everyone on council recognizes that this is something where we very clearly need to be moving toward a solution that’s going to get us more sheets of ice,” Murdock said. “Of course, the next step is where does that happen and how do we make it work?”
Murdock said the Lambrick Park campus likely makes the most sense for a new arena to replace the lost ice time.
This year, council provided $500,000 in provincial grant money to help fund a campus renewal plan for the aging facilities at Lambrick Park, Gordon Head Recreation Centre and the Bert Richman building.
That study will now include an arena facility. Staff might also consider whether it’s possible to add an aquatic facility.
Murdock stressed that there’s no guarantee a new arena will be built at Lambrick Park, but the overhaul of the facilities presents a golden opportunity — although he doesn’t expect it will be delivered before the end of this council’s term in 2026.
“Expectations are high and we’re up against the deadline for the closure of the Ian Stewart Complex, which is going to put further pressure on the existing ice space that we have,” he said. “With that pressure, we recognize that we have to move quickly to find a solution.”
The cost of building one arena is estimated at $39.9 million, or $63.9 million to build and operate it over 30 years, while opting for twinned ice sheets in one facility would cost $61.7 million, or $99.6 million over 30 years, according to a consultant’s report.
Council heard loud and clear about the need for more ice sheets from both the community and the consultant, hired by the district to look into the demand for ice time.
Several members of the Racquet Club of Victoria, including parents, organizers and young athletes, implored council to consider new ice sheets.
Brenda Reder, president of the Racquet Club of Victoria, said as long as she has been with the club, it has “struggled to find adequate ice to provide all of the programming we would like to be able to provide.”
Reder noted many athletes have had to travel to the West Shore and even to Cowichan to train due to the lack of ice time in the city.
Ed Geric, owner of the Saanich Predators Junior B hockey team, which has played out of Pearkes Arena for 56 years — as the Saanich Braves before 2020 — said the need for ice is immediate.
Geric noted the dressing room he built for the team at Pearkes arena is about to be lost, as the facility is at capacity and the room is required for mechanical equipment.
“It is beyond Predators Hockey — it’s about families and the broader community who enjoy and need ice facilities to foster youth athletics,” he said.
Ian Fleetwood, president of the Capital Regional Female Hockey Association, asked council to consider building at least two but preferably three or four ice sheets to handle the growing demand.
He noted participation in the association has increased by 50 per cent over the last four years.
“We know that when there’s a female minor hockey association, more girls play,” he said. “Our registration for next year is already 27 per cent higher than last year.”
Fleetwood said the association is on pace to become the biggest female hockey association in the province.
“But we’ve had problems acquiring ice locally,” he said, noting Saanich makes up 40 per cent of its membership, but the district’s arenas provide only 13 per cent of the ice time.
Consultant Cornerstone Planning concluded the current inventory of arenas is at or near capacity, and that the district’s recreation infrastructure is aging and ill-equipped to adapt to increasing population, diversity and community need.
It recommended looking at partnerships to make a new arena possible and consider developing a plan for one or two ice sheets.
The report estimates the region will face a shortfall of nearly four ice sheets by 2041.
Murdock said it’s early in the process but the district will likely consider all options to pay for the facility, including partnerships with other districts, the private sector and stakeholders, or even Saanich borrowing money to make it happen.
Coun. Colin Plant said he supports the idea of exploring adding two or more ice sheets.
“We’re down an arena in the next few years, the analysis shows that we need additional ice, so it makes perfect sense to me to explore a place where we could have two arenas,” he said, adding he would be interested in two or more.
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