But City of Hamilton recreation director Diane LaPointe-Kay said it’s not clear if Grightmire’s age means closing it and building new is the right decision. She said the feasibility study will include community consultation, and investigate whether it will cost more to continue operating the facility than building a second rink on Olympic Drive.

“We wouldn’t just close the doors,” Ms. LaPointe-Kay said. “I’m sure there are some strong feelings.”

Any Grightmire closure review appears likely to get an earful from the community. Despite the possibility of increasing operating costs for aging arenas like Grightmire, Dundas residents and user groups are opposed to closure of the downtown fixture. Representatives of the arena’s main hockey tenants, the Senior AAA Real McCoys, the Junior C Dundas Blues, The Dundas Minor Hockey Association, and The Dundas Cyclones women’s hockey club all told the Dundas Star News their needs are met by Grightmire.

Their comments are echoed on two Facebook pages. Save the Dundas Arena, set up by local resident Pete Kehoe, and Keep the Market Street Arena Alive, created by two Dundas high school students, boasted 603 members and 323 members respectively as of Tuesday. A study of all Hamilton recreation facilities, including Grightmire, noted it is the oldest arena in the city. It has a capital renewal backlog of $993,837. The study looked to the year 2031, and estimated the facilities capital infrastructure costs at over $4.2-million.

“Usually, when an arena reaches 50 years, that’s its functional lifespan,” Ms. LaPointe-Kay said. “Over time, it costs more in terms of major capital improvements.”

She said the balance between operating costs plus capital improvements and projected costs of building a new arena will be studied in 2012.

“We’ll drill down to that level,” she said. “We’ll go into the Dundas community and look at our options.”

In 2007, it cost $544,803 to operate the Grightmire Arena. Total revenue was $246,628. That meant a loss of $298,175 for the city to operate the facility for one year.

But Ms. LaPointe-Kay said such operating losses are similar for all single pad arenas.

Details of what the $993,000 backlog is for were not available, but Ms. LaPointe-Kay said there are no major projects necessary for Grightmire in the next few years.

In fact, the City of Hamilton has spent several hundred thousand dollars in infrastructure repairs of Grightmire over the past few years.

In 2003 alone, the city received a $216,300 health and safety grant for the Grightmire Arena under a now defunct province of Ontario Sport and Tourism funding program, and $233,000 for several Dundas projects from the provincial Super-Build program.

Part of the SuperBuild funding was used in a $585,000 renovation of Grightmire in the fall of 2003. The entire rink slab, underground pipe system and insulation and rink boards were replaced, and the bleachers received new structural reinforcement.

The issue of aging recreation facilities is a hot topic across Canada right now. It’s something Terry Piche, technical director of the Ontario Recreation Facilities Association is very familiar with.

“It’s not unreasonable that the municipality takes a hard look at where they are in the lifespan of the building,” Mr. Piche said.

He said a municipality must carefully review how public money is invested into an aging facility like Grightmire. He said a little paint won’t fix infrastructure problems, such as ice-making equipment, and rising energy expenses.

“If it continues to function for 10 years, all the costs will continue to climb. The costs won’t come down,” he said. “You’re taking the community’s finances and throwing it into an old building – their tax dollars are going to be thrown at something that’s going to cause them a lot of grief.

“Where do you cut your losses? If I knew that, I could go on a tour and be a millionaire.”

He acknowledged the emotional and historical connections a community develops with a long-serving arena like Grightmire.

But he said the key question for the city is whether the facility meets the needs of the community – and if it will continue to do so 10 years from now.

Don Robertson, of the Dundas Real McCoy’s Senior AAA hockey team, told the Dundas Star News he’s not convinced an arena’s age is as important as its “functionality”. He suggested twinning the Westoby Arena on Olympic Drive might be a good idea – but as a third Dundas arena and not as a replacement for Grightmire.

“It absoloutely meets our needs,” Mr. Robertson said of the 56-year-old arena. “It’s fan-friendly and more keeping with traditional hockey. It’s the perfect venue.

“I pay taxes to the city, I don’t want to see tax dollars wasted. But there will have to be a lot of convincing done that the savings outweigh the loss of a facility that has hosted so many exciting events in the history of the community.”

Steve Aglor, who has a long history as general manager, coach and player with the Dundas Blues, said every first-time visitor to Grightmire comments on what a great place it is to watch a game.

“Every team would like a bigger dressing room, but I wouldn’t trade Grightmire Arena for a bigger dressing room,” Mr. Aglor said.

He also doesn’t see how maintaining the arena could even come close to the cost of building a new facility.

“I have been going into that rink for almost 50 years and I know I will help fight to keep it open, and I know a lot of other people who feel the same way,” Mr. Aglor said.

Andrew Swan, president of the Dundas Minor Hockey Association, said Grightmire meets the organization’s needs.

Mr. Swan said he hasn’t noticed any need for significant investment in the arena, adding the facility’s staff do a “phenomenal job on upkeep.”

“It’s one of the better arenas I’ve been in,” he said. “Market Street Arena is like the town hall or the post office – it’s a Dundas landmark.”

Jack Sauer of the Dundas Cyclones women’s hockey team did not suggest the Grightmire Arena was too old to accommodate female players.

In fact, Mr. Sauer said Grightmire is cleaner and better maintained than other arenas in Hamilton half its age.

“Closing Grightmire would be a travesty that I feel is politically motivated and does not serve the community or the heritage of the facility,” Mr. Sauer said.

Overserviced

While the Monteith Brown Planning Consultants report found the Dundas and west Hamilton area population of 39,415 was overserviced with three arenas – Grightmire, Westoby and Coronation – the consultant stated in a preliminary report that Grightmire was the most used arena in the entire city.

The Ontario Recreation Facility Association recommends one arena for every 8,000 residents in high-use areas. With three arenas, the Dundaswest Hamilton area has one arena for every 13,000 residents.