The Town of Strathmore has reviewed a proposal from the Lakewood development to construct a twin arena but has decided to not move forward.

During the Dec. 15 town council meeting it was revealed that in December representatives from Lakewood of Strathmore met with Mayor Pat Fule and the town’s administration regarding a proposal for a lease agreement for a twin arena project.

Mayor Pat Fule said he was disappointed, “I think a lot of us know in the community that ice times are at a premium and they've had to cap some registrations. But when you see the numbers in front of us, it would very much tie our hands as far as if a major project had to be done or a major repair had to be done, it would put us in a very bad financial situation and exceeding the provincial debt limit would not be good either. We can't do that anyway, but I'm disappointed.” 

“I was very, very impressed and I was really excited by the meeting and I really thank you Scott (Silva) for coming forward, and you guys thought outside the box and you tried to come up with a way that it could be beneficial to both parties, but our financial situation right now, it would be really an almost impossible thing for us to do,” Fule said.

The Mayor also noted that there needs to be monetary figures to show the public the dollar value that could be attached to the project and how it will impact the tax base.

In September 2020, representatives from Devore Developments met with the town to gather feedback on the proposed arena that Devore is considering for the community of Lakewood Meadows.

The project could have been located in the northwest part of the town. There were a number of letters of support for the proposed twin arena.

It was noted that the lease would have had a considerable impact on the town’s debt. and put the town over the provincial debt limit.

The proposed $30 million facility would sit on 7.3 acres, and be an 82,574 square foot building with room for 1312 seats.

The monthly lease, that is outlined within the proposal document, that the town would have had to pay would have been $130,000 per month. The current arena in Strathmore runs the town in a deficit of over $800,000 per year.

The developer was asking for a conditional letter of intent from the town. The town accepted the report as information.