Saint John will close the Hilton Belyea Arena, but the space’s future remains uncertain.
Council voted Monday to close the rink, in an effort to save $155,000 in operational costs as part of its economic sustainability initiative.
Now, they’ll seek a buyer for the space who will sign a non-compete to not poach the city’s existing ice rink clients.
Mayor Don Darling says it isn’t a good sign that the city is concerned about competition from the private sector.
“I think the fact that maybe in some cases we’re a little worried that the private sector would be cheaper than us, we should be concerned about that. We need to continue to work on our productivity,” Darling said.
Councillor Greg Norton was in favour of letting the private sector take over the space.
“If there’s opportunity for the private sector to turn something that we can no longer afford to manage and operate into an attractive feature for our community, I think that complements our suite of offerings,” said Norton.
The city has asked for a long-term ice strategy to be presented to council in 2021.
