Willie O’Ree Place is a busy facility
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
29 Mar 2012 01:11PM
The City of Fredericton’s Willie O’Ree Place marked its fifth anniversary this month and the facility is being well-used, said a city spokesman.
“Our estimates right now are that between two and 2.5 million people have gone through those doors through the last five years,” said community services director Wayne Tallon. “It is busy. It continues to be busy and people are enjoying the facility.”
Willie O’Ree Place is a dual-pad indoor hockey arena that was also built with an indoor walking track and Tallon said the city calculates that on a daily basis 250 to 400 people walk the track.
“It’s one of the most popular facilities that we have now and it’s also become a social place for people to gather, to do some exercise and have a chat.”
The facility in Scotiabank Park North on Cliffe Street also has a satellite YMCA fitness centre and that Y outlet is also popular, Tallon said. The ice hockey facility has also hosted competitive play in a variety of ice sports, he said.
Willie O’Ree Place weathered a few construction-related problems post-opening, but Tallon said the city’s contractor honoured its deal with the city and repaired siding that was causing some leaks in the building.
Willie O’Ree Place cost the city $16.7 million, but it recovered $2 million in non-repayable contributions from the federal and provincial governments.
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