The heart of the community of Aberdeen stopped beating on Wednesday, August 25.
That’s the day the doors of the 64,500 square-foot multi-purpose Aberdeen Recreation Complex (ARC), often referred to as the community’s heart, were locked and the lights turned off.
Whether the closure is temporary is unknown.
Ongoing financial pressures over the past decade, aggravated by a sharp drop in rental revenue last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, forced the Aberdeen and District Charities Incorporated (ADCI) Board to pull the plug. The ADCI is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization that operates the building.
An announcement posted on the Town of Aberdeen Community Association facebook page on Tuesday, August 24, carried the grim message:
“The following statement is on behalf of the Aberdeen and District Charities Board. Due to the fact the Town and RM councils made the decision to stop financially funding the Aberdeen Recreation Complex (ARC), regretfully the ARC will cease operations and the building will be closed starting Wednesday, August 25, 2021. The board has exhausted every effort to keep the doors open. We would like to sincerely thank all current and past volunteers and supporters of the ARC.”
The facility, built in 2005 at a cost of about $12 million, was put up for auction online in July. While there were some bids, they fell far short of the minimum required.
The building and the 5.13 acre lot it is located on are currently assessed at $10,076,900. The building has an existing mortgage of about $1.9 million.
In an interview earlier this summer published in the July 22, 2021 edition of the Gazette, ADCI Board Chair Trevor Cornish said the decision to attempt to sell the rink was a difficult one, but the board had run out of other options. He noted the ARC operated at only 50 per cent capacity in 2020 compared to a normal year, and expenses far outweighed revenue. In addition, the facility will soon need to replace its ice plant, which is expected to cost about $400,000.
“It’s really the heart of the community,” said Cornish in the interview published in the July 22, 2021 edition of the Gazette. “Our hope is that by selling to a private operator with a solid business plan, it will keep the facility here in our community where it can continue to be used by area residents.
“When you look at the countless hours of volunteer labour that went into fundraising efforts to build it, and to keep it operating over the years, it’s a pretty amazing story. It is a facility we’re very proud of and we want to keep it open in a way that’s sustainable in the long run.”
When the facility failed to be sold through the online auction at the end of July, the ADCI was faced with a grim situation, and volunteer members faced many sleepless nights grappling with how to proceed.
A meeting between ADCI board members and RM of Aberdeen and Town of Aberdeen elected officials was apparently held on Monday, August 23 in an effort to find a way to keep the facility open. That meeting failed to reach an arrangement.
Aberdeen Mayor Ryan White posted a message on the community association website following the August 23 meeting.
“I know there are many questions about the status of the rink,” stated White in his facebook post. “Both the Town and RM are working hard at trying to keep the rink in this community. The rink has some significant challenges facing it; the least of which is a mortgage of approximately $1.9 million.
“This, along with some infrastructure upgrades that will need to happen made the Town and RM start looking at other options. The auction was one of the options selected and it did not bring the community partner we had hoped it would.”
White said in his facebook post that both municipalities are continuing to work toward a solution that keeps the rink in Aberdeen and operating for years to come.
He added that the temporary closure of the rink does not preclude it re-opening.
“I reject the idea that if the rink closes that it will not reopen,” said White in the post. “This town built a facility well beyond what anyone thought it could. Those that built the rink believed they could make it happen and they worked hard and persevered. I am not from this community but have been privileged to see this community come together time and time again to help our friends and neighbours in times of need. I believe that while this may be hard to endure this community will once again come together and make it through this.”
White said town officials will be posting updates online as soon as concrete arrangements are made.
The ARC houses a hockey rink, curling rink, meeting rooms, food concession and lounge. It is also home to a preschool and dance club.
In addition to questions about what the community’s minor hockey and figure skating associations will do this season, the closure of the ARC also affects other user groups.
As community member Dace Metke posted on the community facebook page, the ARC is more than just a rink, noting several groups pay rent to use the facility.
“At least three of those user groups were starting in less than two weeks and are now struggling to find alternative spaces to go to and be able to store their equipment in,” said Metke.
In addition to ice rental revenue, community fundraisers currently account for a substantial portion of the ARC’s annual revenue. In 2017, a ‘Community Build’ home was constructed by more than 100 volunteers with donated materials supplied by businesses in the area. That initiative brought in about $60,000. At that time, the remaining mortgage on the ARC was $2.1 million. In recent years, area farmers have donated proceeds from the sale of crops, each year contributing about $50,000.