Momentum is building as a handful of Chatham-Kent communities rally for another local arena to win some money for upgrades in a nationwide contest.
The Wheatley Area Arena, the Wallaceburg Memorial Arena, and Memorial Arena in Chatham have all been nominated for the Kraft Hockeyville contest with just nine days left in the "Nominate and Rally" stage.
The most popular local bid as of Friday morning was in Wheatley, where the Wheatley Area Arena's community rally page had compiled more than 260 entries ahead of the February 19 deadline. That total more than doubled in one day from the 126 entries the page had on Thursday.
The community is making the push as part of its recovery from a devastating explosion in August 2021.
Wheatley resident Erica Cassidy, who set up a Facebook page to support their bid, said in the weeks and months that followed the explosion, the arena became even more of a community hub for affected residents.
"After the explosion, there's not much left here in town, you know, we do have the Talbot Trail golf course, but as far as a staple goes for year-round activities, it's the Wheatley Arena," said Cassidy. "There was a bank trailer there, there were resources there where people were able to go for more information, it became more of a hub than it has ever been."
The first place winner of the contest will get to host an NHL game in addition to receiving $250,000 worth of arena upgrades. The nomination period closes on February 19, followed by the judging period from Feb. 20 to March 11 -- that's when the top four bids will be announced.
Cassidy said if Wheatley's bid ends up winning, the general consensus from the community is that the money should be spent on improving accessibility at the facility.
"It is a very old building... it was funded and built by local members here within the community many years ago, so it is so important for us to maintain it, and it isn't very accessible for people who may face daily struggles," said Cassidy. "Even a stroller, a scooter, a wheelchair -- there's not a place for people with those daily challenges to go where they can watch the game comfortably."
Cassidy said the washrooms, the seating areas, and the canteen area could also use some accessibility upgrades.
In addition to dozens of other bids from across Canada, Wheatley has some local competition.
Wallaceburg Memorial Arena also has a community rally page set up with 31 entries listed as of Friday morning.
A submission to Wallaceburg's rally page earlier this week from "Lisa M" highlighted the "community spirit" in the town, noting that "you can't go out in town without seeing someone representing Wallaceburg with some type of apparel." She also pointed to their passionate fans, saying "win or lose, we keep on cheering!"
Memorial Arena in Chatham is also back in the contest after finishing as a finalist in the same contest in 2015, coming second only to the Panorama Recreation Centre in North Saanich, British Columbia. Its rally page had 14 entries as of Friday morning.
The arena in Chatham still received a $100,000 prize for placing second and put that money towards purchasing a new digital outdoor sign, automatic doors, and heaters for spectator areas at the rink. Those "visible" and "reusable" upgrades were installed in 2017 after being carefully selected and tendered out so that they could be transferred to another arena if Memorial Arena was decommissioned.
