le Lundi 27 mars 2023
le Mercredi 20 janvier 2021 19:22 Autres - Others

JML Arena closed until summer

The Jean-Marc Lalonde Arena is closed until the start of summer this year while the City of Clarence-Rockland works out a partnership agreement for the facility with le Conseil scolaire catholique de l’Est ontarien. — photo Gregg Chamberlain
The Jean-Marc Lalonde Arena is closed until the start of summer this year while the City of Clarence-Rockland works out a partnership agreement for the facility with le Conseil scolaire catholique de l’Est ontarien.
photo Gregg Chamberlain
The Jean-Marc Lalonde Arena is closed until the summer while the city tries to work a partnership agreement with one of the local school districts on the recreation facility.

City council made the decision to close the arena from January to June this year during its final session of 2020 before the Christmas holiday break. The decision was made before the provincial government decided to impose a second lockdown for Ontario to deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases during the second wave of the pandemic.

The provincial lockdown affects all public recreational facilities where large gatherings of people might congregate. Council’s decision for a temporary closure of the arena is to provide administration with the time needed to contact le Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO) and work out a partnership agreement for future maintenance responsibility of the facility.

The CSDECEO uses the concrete arena floor as an indoor gymnasium area for some of its physical education activities for students from L’Escale. The arena is also a popular facility for many local recreation and community groups and also for several sports clubs from the Ottawa area.

Temporary closure of the facility means a reduction in the 2021 budget allocation for its maintenance needs.