Several Canadian cities had applied to bring home an outdoor rink that was designed for the Canada 150 celebrations in Ottawa. Once the celebrations ended, Canada Heritage decided to allow other Canadian cities to apply and bring it to their city.
A decision has finally been made, and the town of Ganonoque in eastern Ontario is the lucky winner.
The town of Ganonoque will soon see an outdoor rink behind that the Lou Jeffries, Ganonoque & T.L.T.I. Recreation Centre.
“We’re ecstatic here in Ganonoque right now that we’ve gotten the news that we were actually the recipients of the Canada 150 rink,” says Erica Demchuk, mayor of Ganonoque.
Many community members are proud that a small town like Ganonoque, one that isn’t well-known, was selected.
WATCH: Canada 150 Rink officially opens
The town hopes the new outdoor rink will boost tourism and create more room for outdoor sporting activities.
What makes this opportunity even more special for the town is the fact that Gord Brown, the late former MP of Leeds-Grenville Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes who passed away earlier this year, was already working plans to build an outdoor rink built for the town
“It’s unfortunate that Gord Brown passed away and he’s our member of parliament here and he’s been on board even before the Canada 150 started, to build an outdoor rink behind this arena” says Demchuk.
Friends, family and the community in Ganonoque have a lot of love and respect for late Gord Brown, and have already raised funds to help memorialize their late beloved MP at the future outdoor rink. Heritage Canada is also providing $150,000 to help the town with the construction costs.
Materials for the rink will be brought to Ganonoque soon, but there is lots of ground work needed so it the rink won’t be open until the fall of 2019.
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