by Perry Anglin
It is time to replace the aged, inconvenient and unlovely Mindemoya Community Centre with a modern facility. It could offer facilities such as pickle ball courts, popular elsewhere for many men and women, even as they get older.
There is still a place for the smaller halls at the heart of the Providence Bay, Spring Bay and Sandfield communities. Those communities are not mere “Points,” a term contrived by proponents of a multi-million dollar centre in Mindemoya.
Importantly, the Five Points boosters concentrate on first building an unnecessary new arena, sketched as slightly larger than Little Current’s. They do not sketch a second phase, or show any floor plan, except one for a dividable 500-seat hall. It is shown attached to the handsome Old School and ruining its ambiance.
Presumably Mindemoya’s existing community centre would be usable until a second phase. As well, the high school’s large space for meetings is available (as is M’Chigeeng arena at an affordable hourly rate.) Forget about trade fairs, a thing of the past on Manitoulin. The last one was held in Little Current years ago.
The entire “Five Points” presentation is apparently driven by a very small group of adults who want a bigger rink on which to play ‘Sportsman’ hockey. Sportsman is a term for playing without cross checking or other intentional contact. That small group of enthusiasts might also be said to lack contact with reality.
Because the present arenas in Mindemoya and Providence Bay are sufficient for enjoyable hockey (which is declining in popularity) and it is obviously far more economical to maintain both the Mindemoya and Providence Bay arenas than to build a multi-million dollar new one.
Mindemoya’s arena could well be upgraded with showers, which the Providence Bay arena already offers. That matters after a sweaty game. Its showers may be one reason why the Providence Bay arena hosts one or two adult tournaments a year. It is said that Mindemoya has not hosted a single one in the last five years or more.
There is a public petition underway opposing a new arena. You won’t see a public petition supporting it. A council that wanted to be remembered for a lasting contribution would build a new community hall with popular facilities. Ideally near the Old School and with a stone-faced entrance facade.
But any council that built a new arena, shut down the rink in Providence Bay and neglected other community halls would be remembered unkindly for years to come. The Mindemoya Arena and the Old School are dedicated to the memories of two rivals associated with them. One was my father, who for decades coached Mindemoya hockey teams. He would be appalled at closing the rink in Providence Bay, abandoning community halls and building an unnecessary arena at a significant cost to all taxpayers for the slight benefit of a very few.
Perry Anglin, a former reeve of Central Manitoulin, was an assistant deputy minister in Ottawa and later a business consultant on new ventures by large corporations.
