By Adam Williams
Kamloops This Week
Chase’s Art Holding Memorial Arena will look much different by this time next year.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District board of directors has given the village $45,000 from the Federal Gas Tax-Community Works Fund to help with upgrades to the community’s lone indoor rink.
The updates planned for the arena – the home of, among others, the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Chase Heat – include repairs to the boards, the glass and the penalty boxes. There will also be updates made to the scoreboard and the sound system, while all lights in the arena will be replaced.
“It’s just a bunch of house-tidying things that need to be done,” said Brooke Kynoch, president of the Chase and District Recreation Society.
“The place has been there for over 15 years, so a bunch of stuff hasn’t been done. With their [the TNRD’s] help, we’re making everything look new again.”
Some of the repairs – lighting changes, for example – are being covered by the Village of Chase.
Mayor Rick Berrigan said the money received from the TNRD will have a significant impact on what is a centrepiece of the Shuswap community.
“It’s a huge asset to the village,” Berrigan said. “It houses our local hockey team and it’s a big plus for the winter in the town.
“It gives the people of Chase something more to do. It’s a very important facility.”