The Kinex Arena has reached the end of its lifespan and would require significant investment to update the facility for community sport purposes. A thorough assessment was conducted in 2018 to determine the future viability of the building. Based on the cost estimates, the Kinex was maintained as needed until the completion of the G.H. Dawe Community Centre project.

Significant investment would be required to update the facility to meet current safety and building code requirements for public use.

Demolition will occur this summer and is expected to be completed by the end of August 2024. We will provide information to the community when the building demolition starts.

The footprint of the facility will become additional green space in Barret Park. The Parking lot will remain for users of this park as well as overflow for large events at Servus Arena and the Pidherney Centre.

The second arena at the G.H. Dawe Community Centre is the replacement of the Kinex Arena. The City currently has no future plans for adding arena inventory.

The City’s 2016 Ice Facilities Plan identifies threshold targets for arena demand and population growth that would trigger additional ice for our community. Currently, neither population nor demand warrants additional arena space.

Our community has not operated at full arena capacity (six) since 2020. Additionally, prior to 2020, the construction of the Servus Arena and unplanned mechanical shutdown of the Kinsmen Community Arenas led to multiple seasons with only five sheets of ice available. The City’s investment in the arena at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre in 2017 further expanded arena access for the community. The opening of the G.H. Dawe Community Centre twin arenas, together with the Servus Arena, the Collicutt Centre Arena and Kinsmen Community Arenas will provide consistent operations to evaluate arena demand that maximize use of our community amenities.

A community skate was held in April 2023 to commemorate the official closing of the Kinex Arena. Photos of the amenity throughout the years are available through Red Deer Archives digital library. Anyone interested in sharing their Kinex Arena photos, stories or items, please reach out to Red archives@reddeer.ca or 403-309-8403.

Council approved funding for the demolition in conjunction with the approval of the G.H. Dawe twinning. The cost of the demolition is approximately $300,000.

Many of the large items have been sold to other municipalities within Alberta to be repurposed. The remaining items, such as puck board, nets and appliances were made available to the community through a garage sale held on Saturday, May 11, 2024.

The City worked with local sport organizations and Red Deer Archives to remove any memorabilia from the Kinex for safe keeping.

Funds received from the sale of items went into Recreation’s general revenue account.