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xNo. As the twin arenas open at the G.H. Dawe Community Centre, the Kinex Arena will be decommissioned and no longer used for community sport.
Kinex Arena
With the twin arenas now open at the G.H. Dawe Community Centre, The City will continue with it’s plan to decommission the Kinex Arena. This facility will no longer serve as a recreation amenity for the community.
When will the Kinex Arena be decommissioned?
The last day of programming for the Kinex Arena was March 26, 2023. A public event was held to bid farewell to the arena on April 1, 2023 and all public access ceased at the completion of that event.
Now what happens next to the Kinex Arena?
The facility equipment and fixtures will be inventoried to identify pieces that have continued useful life and value. The City will repurpose the assets in other City owned facilities wherever possible. Any remaining items will be made available to the community in a fair transparent process. An environmental assessment will be completed in the coming months to identify any concerns that may exist with the facility. This information will inform next steps for the Kinex.
Why can’t we keep the Kinex Arena for other purposes like dry space rentals?
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, a recommendation was made to maintain the Kinex as needed until the completion of the G.H. Dawe Community Centre project. The City has no current plans for the continued operation of the Kinex Arena.
Can we collect/purchase memory items like puck board, equipment, benches etc. as we did with the Red Deer Arena demolition?
The City will repurpose as much of the equipment and fixtures as possible in other City owned facilities. Any remaining items will be made available to the community in a fair transparent process.
What is The City’s plan for replacing the Kinex Arena and providing more arenas for Red Deerians?
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. At this time, 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.