A silver dome with a geodesic exoskeleton has been a familiar feature in Tracy Burns’s life.
“Belltown Dome has been here forever,” she said of the unusual arena just west of Britannia Park.
“I used to live around the corner,” Burns added. “We used to come as kids to public skating. Then recently, the last few years, my kids use it for hockey practice to get extra ice since there’s not that many other arenas.”
This hockey season, that won’t be much of an option. The city is transitioning the dome from a refrigerated arena to a “natural ice surface.” That means a much shorter season, since skating can only happen when outdoor temperatures drop below freezing – and stay there.
“It’s going to be sad,” said Burns. “It’s going to mean more travelling. Sometimes we have to go to Kemptville to get ice for hockey practices and things like that because there is limited space in Ottawa.”
Ben Lee, president of the West End Hockey League, said the below-regulation-size rink is perfect for practice and drills. He said there are few alternatives anywhere nearby.
“Ottawa’s core is already facing a shortage of hockey rinks,” he said. “So losing Belltown as a fully functional ice facility, it would only make the situation worse for our community.”
Ice plant nearing end of life
In a statement to CBC, the city’s general manager of recreation, cultural and facility services said the ice plant there is nearing the end of its life, along with “other critical mechanical and structural elements of the facility.”
“The City recognizes the concerns of the community and has ensured the conversion to a natural ice surface will allow for the continued use of the facility as weather conditions permit,” Dan Chenier said.
He said the city will still maintain the ice, rent it to community groups and offer supervised public skating.
Alex Cullen of the Belltown Community Association wants the city to reverse its decision. He organizes a community adult recreation hockey league there every Friday. He called it “a very popular rink” and an “iconic structure” in the neighbourhood.
“Its utilization rate is above average for the city and its operating costs are quite modest,” said Cullen, who is also a former city councillor for the area. “It’s the only hockey rink you have in all of Bay Ward.”
Beyond a shorter season, Cullen worries the ice surface will be unstable because of the repeated freezing and thawing. In his view, the city should invest to make sure the dome can continue to operate as a refrigerated arena.
“Ice time is at a premium in the city, so it doesn’t make sense to reduce it when the demand is there,” he said.
The city estimated the cost of replacing the ice plant at $1.7 million, a figure that does not include other work on the facility. Thought Belltown Dome is in fact the only arena in Bay Ward, the city noted that there is an arena three kilometres away, and another five kilometres away.
Theresa Kavanagh, the current Bay ward councillor and Cullen’s spouse, said the dome has become part of the community’s identity.
“You’re taking away a single pad in a community that was within walking distance for a lot of people,” she said.
“It’s really important to have these inner-urban structures, because there’s not anything else.”
‘The core of Ottawa is left behind’
Lee sees it as a question of fairness. While growing suburbs like Riverside South are set to get new recreation facilities with multiple ice pads, the city has no current plans to construct any new municipal arenas inside the greenbelt.
“We’re seeing, in the suburbs, all these new facilities popping up… but the core of Ottawa is left behind,” said Lee. “Our feeling is that we need to address this imbalance to support the kids that live in the Ottawa core.”
The Belltown Dome is on Ottawa’s heritage registry, which describes it as an example of modernism inspired by the work of R. Buckminster Fuller, who designed Montreal’s biosphere. That means any demolition would require at least 60 days notice.
According to Kavanagh, the city plans to retain the dome structure itself for the time being.
She is organizing an information session about the Belltown Dome Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre.
“I know it’s going to be emotional because this is a unique, well-loved facility,” she said. “Emotions will probably be high about that. We’ve got to do our best to preserve that uniqueness.”