Community groups have found, in recent weeks, that they have gotten far more than they bargained for in the new Woolwich Memorial Centre.
The recreation complex, built after many organizations — including Woolwich Minor Hockey — made compelling arguments that a twin ice-pad arena was needed, is now costing more to use than they may have expected.
The Dan Snyder Memorial Arena, for instance, will cost $20 more per hour for ice time than the Jim McLeod pad, or the Woolwich Township arena pad in St. Jacobs.
Woolwich Minor Hockey, at last week’s council meeting, suggested the higher rates will make it next to impossible for some children to play hockey, since the new rental rates will have to be covered by higher registration fees.
It’s either that, or the Dan Snyder pad will be used a lot less frequently than this year, said treasurer Debbie Good.
This is the third time an organization has found the new facility a little intimidating, when it comes to cost.
The first was when Friends of Hockey held a fundraising event, completed with the Atlanta Thrasher hockey organization, last fall. Organizer Jim Radcliffe asked councillors to waive at least some of the rental costs of the facility, a request that was denied.
And then, more recently, the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival indicated it would like to use the Dan Snyder pad for its MegaMutts event, along with the annual pancake flipping competition, but found the cost for the day to be beyond its reach.
The reason for the higher rates is obvious. It simply costs more to run the Woolwich Memorial Centre than it did the Elmira Arena.
A larger ice pad, more seating, in a larger facility all add up to higher utility costs, more staffing, and more supplies. All of this costs money.
While community fundraising has contributed an amazing amount of money to the capital costs of the facility — more than $5 million raised to date — the costs of the Woolwich Memorial Centre are only beginning to be felt.
Woolwich taxpayers, to be sure, are also sharing their portion of the capital and operating costs, with a significant portion of this year’s tax increase set aside to finance recent capital projects, including the Woolwich Memorial Centre. This is in spite of the fact that there are many taxpayers who may never use the facility.
User groups may feel hard done by, but the reality is this — it took an entire community to help build the Woolwich Memorial Centre, and it is going to take an entire community to keep it running as it should.
It’s only fair that user groups pay their fare share as well.