Council approves operation of fourth artificial ice surface in Prince Albert to meet demand

To meet artificial ice surface demand, City Council has approved keeping the Kinsmen Arena open and closing the Steuart Arena once the two new artificial ice surfaces at the new Recreation Centre open.

The decision will bring the total artificial ice surfaces in Prince Albert from three to four.

Prince Albert’s three arenas are currently at 99.8% capacity (4485 of 4494 available hours) for prime-time ice bookings, with another 1622 hours of additional ice time booked at surrounding communities.

The approval follows the recommendations of City Administration which forwarded a report outlining current use of Kinsmen and Steuart Arenas and cost recovery at each facility.

The addition of a fourth arena adds another 1498 hours of prime time ice booking in Prince Albert to meet known demand. The Kinsmen Arena was chosen to remain in operation due to its condition, building capacity to meet user demand and its shared space with the Kinsmen Water Park (including concession space and water park infrastructure).  

Without demonstrated demand for ice surface time, the Steuart Arena will require an increasing subsidy to continue operation which could grow to as much as $387,000 a year.   

“At this point any future use would be based on speculation,” said Jody Boulet, Director of Community Services for the City of Prince Albert. “Without demonstrated demand or projections based on evidence of future demand, we were not in a position to recommend keeping the Steuart Arena open.”  

The four ice surfaces will be in addition to the four volunteer-driven Community Club natural ice arenas. Options for the use of the Steuart Arena will be considered in a future report. The Aquatic and Arenas Recreation Centre is under construction now. It will include two new artificial ice surfaces and an aquatics facility that includes a lane pool, leisure pool and waterslides.

For media inquires, please contact:

Jody Boulet
Director of Community Services
(306) 953-4800

Mayor Greg Dionne
(306) 953-4300