Keeping the Ice Alive: Community Steps Up After Fire

Around 5AM on Monday September 28th a fire broke out in the Keating Center, shutting it down for the day. While it was contained to an electrical box, the impact of the fire stretched beyond the small panel and onto the Antigonish community.

The following day a statement was put out by Bob Hale, Associate Vice President of Administration, who revealed that the electrical box was responsible for maintaining both ice surfaces. The implications are detrimental to university and community ice-sports as Bob clarified: “…there will be no ice for the foreseeable future…”

Ice sports such as hockey and figure skating are key parts of the StFX and Antigonish community at large. The loss of two ice pads means only one thing: pressure on the Antigonish Arena, now the singular rink in town. But the response from both the Antigonish community and STFX administration has been resounding. I asked Garrett Juurlink, the Antigonish Arena Staff Manager, how he is preparing for the influx of ice bookings – especially with StFX Varsity teams. He responded that “We are working with our Rural Sr Hockey league to change some of their dates to open up space for Varsity games,” going on to say that “they have been more than happy to work with us...” Upon hearing how the community was stepping up I wanted to ask how Garrett was keeping it fair with balancing current and new bookings. He said that “the priority is to my current users and AMHA, it is business as usual for the regular ice bookings.” Which only makes it that much more heartwarming that there are groups like the Sr Leagues in the Antigonish community that are stepping up for StFX.

On the university front there are questions in the air about the status of the rinks. While the Antigonish Community Arena has shown its adaptability, the question remains: what will the full impact of the fire be – especially for Varsity and Recreation teams. I reached out to Bob Hale to get further insight on how StFX is responding. The communication between the University and the Antigonish Rink had been going very well: “We couldn’t have done it without them,” says Bob when asked about how scheduling has been going. The future is looking good for the Varsity teams. Bob said that Garrett had been able to accommodate “…all [hockey] games between now and Christmas.” Beyond just sports, there is the question of how classes such as Human Kinetics classes will be impacted. But Bob Hale was able to comment on any worries of classes or games being missed, saying “…they were able to take all Human Kinetics classes.”

Though the outlook for ice coming back to the Keating Center is still far out, Bob was confident in management’s ability to explore any option: “…Management is working with various companies to do this type of work”, he says. Which only means positive things for the outlook of the Keating Center, and with the help of the Antigonish Arena, it is clear the Town of Antigonish community will not let a fire stop them.