Belleville will take another close look at the future of Memorial Arena in the downtown.
During Monday night’s city council meeting, Mayor Mitch Panciuk called for a staff report on the Memorial’s situation before making any decisions about developing it for other uses.
Panciuk said staff report would be available in a couple of months then “everyone would know the cost” of developing it back into an ice arena.
Memorial has been closed for a number of years because of its deteriorating condition. There have been community concerns about the future of the historic building.
The last report on the building was nearly 10 years ago.
Council made that decision for areview as it was accepting a consultant’s report on the future concept of the Downtown Commons area around city hall.
Consultant Ruth Ferguson Aulthouse presented her report to council, outlining what the future could look like in the area surrounding city hall.
That report, subject of a recent public meeting, indicated “alternative uses” for Memorial, including shops, a pub, and possibly an events area.
Ferguson Aulthouse explained this was just a “beginning” to meet the timeline of a provincial funding, but there was still lots of planning ahead for council in this area.
