La Broquerie unveils expanded arena

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This article was published 30/09/2015 (3102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the most expensive recreation project in La Broquerie history, the long overdue refurbishment and expansion of the La Broquerie Arena is now complete, as the community will mark this ambitious project with Grand Opening celebrations this Saturday.

The existing La Broquerie Arena was built nearly 40 years ago, and now this much-needed expansion, which added six new dressing rooms, a completely new fully equipped canteen as well as other amenities at the complex, has been completed at a cost of $3 million.

And although the project was at times controversial in the RM of La Broquerie, that is the cost of providing recreation facilities in a community.

TERRY FREY/ THE CARILLON
Club Sportif president Steve Hildebrand (left) and RM of La Broquerie councillor Ivan Normandeau at the newly expanded La Broquerie Arena, renamed the HyLife Centre, which will hold its grand opening this weekend.
TERRY FREY/ THE CARILLON Club Sportif president Steve Hildebrand (left) and RM of La Broquerie councillor Ivan Normandeau at the newly expanded La Broquerie Arena, renamed the HyLife Centre, which will hold its grand opening this weekend.

Renamed the HyLife Sports Complex, La Broquerie now has one of the finest arena facilities in the southeast. A complete addition to the building added six dressing rooms as well as a new and expanded canteen, a couple of offices, a meeting room and a new entrance for both spectators and players, as well as a completely new exterior along the west side addition that has changed the look of the complex as one drives on to the parking lot.

As the 8,200 sq. ft. addition was built along the west side of the building, access to the arena ice from those new dressing rooms will also come from that side, which meant they had to remove a chunk of the bleachers to provide a walkway to the ice surface.

RM of La Broquerie councillor Ivan Normandeau said this is a project that has been mulled for several years, necessitated mainly for the need of new and additional dressing rooms. “We were no longer able to host provincial championships here because we only had four dressing rooms.”

The majority of the funding for the expansion comes in the form of a $2.2 million debenture taken out by the RM of La Broquerie as well as an additional $200,00 from Local Urban District for La Broquerie.

The remaining $600,000, a substantial 20% of the funding, came from within the community itself through naming rights and donations from the corporate and private sector.

In addition to HyLife becoming the naming sponsor for the complex, naming rights were also sold to the six new dressing rooms.

Club Sportif president Steve Hildebrand says the driving force behind getting this project off the ground was former RM of La Broquerie councillor Ken Tallaire, “this project may not have happened without him.”

Hildebrand said with female hockey now being offered in La Broquerie, it was imperative they have a dressing room they could use. In the past some of the girls would get ready in a storage room. The existing four dressing rooms will continue to be utilized.

Hildebrand said the improvements to the canteen are also a welcome addition as they actually now have real kitchen facilities, which includes coolers, a deep fryer, a grill, a stove and even a gourmet hot dog roller. “In the past all we had was a microwave and a fridge.

Grand opening celebrations on Saturday will be held at 4:00 p.m. with the official ceremony. But the day’s events begin at 11:00 a.m. as all of La Broquerie’s minor hockey teams will be in action throughout the day. There will also be a guided tour of the new facility beginning at 4:45 p.m.

In the evening there are a series of Habs’ alumni hockey games with the feature game at 7:30 p.m. showcasing the Legends of the Habs.

Construction on the arena expansion took just over a year, beginning in May of 2014 and it was completed this June.

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