A suggestion that the city mothball the Karl Homuth Arena early because of failing ice making equipment didn't sit well with councillor Mike Devine on Tuesday.
The detail was part of capital status and forecast report outlining capital budget changes due to cost overruns that needed to be approved by council.
In 2019, council approved decommissioning of the arena upon completion of Preston Aud expansion.
Council also approved the decommissioning of Dickson and Duncan McIntosh arenas upon successful completion of Cambridge Sports Park improvement and expansion to a quad-pad arena.
But during a recent annual inspection and condition assessment of the facilities, staff discovered the ice making components at Karl Homuth Arena will require a $95,000 fix to keep it operational for another season.
Instead of spending money on a facility that's scheduled to close in another year, staff proposed closing Karl Homuth for the upcoming season instead and keeping Dickson Arena open for another season in lieu of lost ice time.
It would also mean a stay of execution for the Duncan McIntosh Arena until the Preston Aud is complete.
But Devine doesn't think anything should close until the additional facilities get built.
"We need to recognize we're a growing city, growing more rapidly than we thought we were going to. We have to maintain what we have," he said.
This despite assurances from director of recreation Lesley Head that the current inventory of ice is enough to maintain the city's program needs without Karl Homuth.
"Right now we have an area of about 30,000 people and they have nowhere to skate," countered Devine, before asking for an amendment to keep Karl Homuth running next season and Dickson open too.
"I don't want to put an end date on this. I'm proposing it stay open and operational," he said.
But ice isn't the only consideration in the plan to close the arenas.
Deputy city manager Yogesh Shah said other components of the facilities will need to be reassessed and the changerooms and washrooms are not up to current standards. It could get expensive.
Keeping all three arenas open when the city planned to close them will also cost $111,300 for staffing for each year it remains open.
"I would think that's a reasonable amount to keep our kids occupied," said Mayor Jan Liggett.
City CFO Sheryl Ayres said the $95,000 to make the repairs to the ice making equipment can be drawn capital works reserve fund, while the staffing costs would have to become part of the city's 2025 operating budget.
She said the city will have to find savings in other areas to offset the staffing costs or it could potentially contribute to a bit of a deficit at year end.
Council voted 5 to 2 in favour of Devine's amendment.
Hamilton and Shwery voted against taking on the added costs. Councillors Adam Cooper and Sheri Roberts were absent for the first half of the meeting and missed the vote.