Council for the Town of Goderich is trying to peel back the curtain on why it made the controversial decision to close Memorial Arena.
A special council meeting was held on January 3 to discuss the facility's future in closed session, where it was determined that the arena would be closed until further notice due to aging infrastructure.
CAO Janice Hallahan said while the closed session discussions were handled properly, they did make a mistake in open session.
"However, we did not complete the process by raising the town's position or holding a public vote on the matter when coming out of the closed session," she told council at this week's meeting. "I recognize that this step was missed and we're now going to take those steps."
The first step was a motion from Deputy Mayor Leah Noel to share the staff reports and structural inspections that were provided in closed session with the public. Those documents will be included in the agenda for next council meeting.
Other closed session information that was shared was an update from Fire Chief Jeff Wormington, that he would no longer be able to approve safe occupancy of the building for the upcoming year.
Mayor Trevor Bazinet said that was what decided the closing the arena for him.
"That was a decision-maker for me in this process," he said. "If he's not going to approve events or occupancy in that facility, than why are we keeping the doors open?"
Along with safety concerns, the arena reportedly only had five bookings for the upcoming year.
During the discussion, members of council said that there had been public backlash on the decision.
Councillor John Thompson said those concerns were valid, as the arena has been a big part of people's lives.
"Because Memorial Arena has existed for close to 70 years, almost three generations of Goderich residents have had the opportunity to use the facility and form strong emotional attachments," he said. "That means that any change to the status of that building was always going to touch a nerve with people who had those attachments."
The Town has assembled a Memorial Arena Task Force to help determine the future of the building, and the reports from closed session will be shared with those members as well.
The Task Force will hold its next meeting on February 10.