The newly formed Boissevain Build Our Rink Committee has started their fundraising efforts for the municipality's new arena!

Their most recent fundraiser was through Boundary Co-op's hotdog sales event last week, bringing in $1,275 towards the $2 million goal.

Boissevain’s Agricultural Arena was built back in 1960 and is one of the oldest in the province. The 62 year old facility is showing its age and the need for ongoing repairs continues. The Municipality of Boissevain-Morton agreed on a new arena build project a couple of years ago to continue their focus on the future of recreation and leisure in their area. 

"We desperately need a new rink in Boissevain," explains fundraising committee member, Heather Merckx, "and so we put this committee together to get the word out and share what we're doing.  We will hopefully get this rink built over the next couple of years, and we need the support from the community. But first we're just trying to get awareness out about our committee, so we're starting small. From there we're going to build up asking sponsors to help us with the building." 

As a mother of 2 hockey players, Merckx shares that this arena is about more than just hockey and skating programs.  "The rink is for the whole community.  We're looking at having programs there for seniors as well.  To keep our community alive, going and growing, we need this rink.  It's not just a rink, it's a complex, and this will really help our local businesses as well," she continues, "and we'll be able to offer more tournaments, more programs, and bring more people to our community."

This message is clear in their slogan: 'Our rink, our community, our future'.

"We really want to stress that it's not just hockey, its not just figure-skating.  This is for our community and its going to open up so many activities that we can have for the town," she adds.

The municipality's website states, 'To minimize tax impact locally, funding from the federal and provincial governments are essential in the development and construction of new recreation facilities in Boissevain. In the fall of 2019, the municipality submitted a grant application to the “Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program” (ICIP) – a joint multi-governmental program – for the development of a new recreation complex. This particular fund would potentially cover up to 73% of the total eligible costs of such a project.'

As government input is crucial for a project this size, Merckx says grass-roots support is very important to the success to fundraising. There are a few major decisions to be made before they delve deeper into their fundraising drive, that being location and design.

"We're still in the very early stages of the rink.  We need to finalize a location, which is what we're hoping to do here in the next month, and then we have the design of the building to finalize.  Once that is finalized, which we're hoping before the end of the year, then we can approach residents and businesses to get the larger sponsorships."

Merckx notes community support has been very positive now in the early stages.  "We have people coming to us saying that they want to donate their proceeds from a fundraiser to our committee.  From what we hear, people are very excited.  I think once we have that location tied down, I think people will be more comfortable knowing this will happen."

'Recently Council chose the location for a new facility, in Boissevain’s east side at the corner of South Railway and Egan Street where the existing outdoor rink is,' states their municipal website.  'This location was chosen based on being located within the community and the downtown, the opportunity to develop infrastructure and activity in the neighbourhood, and that the land is owned by the municipality. A base facility design has been proposed, and includes an ice rink, walking track and a multi-purpose room.' 

The exact coordinates and final building design have yet to be determined.

For more information on the build project, visit:  www.boissevain.ca/newarena/

For more on upcoming fundraising events, visit their Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/Boissevain-Build-A-Rink-110922761644348/