NEWS RELEASE

HRM Plans to Meet with Province Soon About Planned Rink Closure

(Wednesday, October 25/06)-- District 7 Councillor Bill Karsten said today he and other HRM officials plan to meet soon with the provincial Ministers of Education and Health Promotion regarding the planned closure next spring of the rink at the Akerley Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College.

Councillor Karsten said that Mayor Peter Kelly, Chief Administrative Officer Dan English and he met today with Dr. Joan McArthur-Blair, President of the Nova Scotia Community College, to seek more information about the planned April 2007 closure. They were advised the space is required to consolidate the college’s transportation programming.

The Councillor said he was shocked to learn about the rink closure yesterday from the Dartmouth Whalers Minor Hockey Association and he had the issue added to the agenda of Halifax Regional Council meeting last evening.

“This is devastating news for the minor hockey community. There aren’t enough rinks now throughout HRM to accommodate the growing needs of the various clubs and minor hockey associations,” he said “To lose the Akerley rink on such short notice is sending everyone into a tailspin. Something has to be done, and it has to be done quickly.”

Councillor Karsten said it was unfortunate that HRM and the community were given little or no advance notice of the closure. The municipality’s 2006/2007 has been set for many months now and, therefore, there is no funding available for a new rink. Even if funds were available, construction of a new rink could not be completed in time for the 2007/2008 hockey season.

“We’ve got to bring this issue before the Ministers of Education and Health Promotion. We are going to need the Province’s help for both a short-term and long-term solution to this problem,” he said.

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Councillor Bill Karsten
476-1855