One Arena. One Pool.

It appears that a grassroots movement by some citizens in Paradise to have one arena and a pool in lieu of the present proposal of two arenas is gaining momentum. For years, citizens had been asking for an arena and for a town with a population of 17,000 and growing, it needed one. The provincial government announced money for the project and we’re grateful to have it.

But somewhere along the line the plan morphed into two arenas at a cost of $20 million. Paradise does not need two arenas given that the Glacier in Mt. Pearl has been expanded to two ice surfaces and CBS is building another two rinks for a total of three. That’s a lot of frozen water.

Instead of two rinks, why not a rink and a pool? There is a huge demand for pool time in the North East Avalon. Paradise residents have to go to St. John’s, Mt. Pearl or CBS for swimming lessons. And we usually have to take times the other justifications don’t want as their residents get first crack at the convenient times - and rightly so. Many parents in Paradise can tell stories of having to line up at the wee hours to get swimming times. But there’s more than a need for just swimming lessons. A pool is a great way to exercise and can be used by people of all ages.

A pool and a rink make much more sense than two pools. Below is an excerpt of a letter being circulated to ask Council and the Paradise Arena Committee to explore the idea of building an arena with one ice surface instead of two, so that leftover funds could be used to construct a pool. While the town is in need of a fire hall - along with other facilities and upgrades - that money does not come from Recreation funding.

“In the beginning we set out to build an arena that was $9 million, which eventually grew into $14 million dollars (figures are approx.). The idea of a "Regional" facility was pitched, which would accommodate our Town and the surrounding areas. This grew into a facility that would house two ice surfaces. At the end, we wound up with $20 million! In our opinion, Paradise will not see this mass amount of funding for Recreation in the foreseeable future. So why not make it stretch? Why not create the Multiplex now? Why not build a "regional" arena with one ice surface and build a pool? Now that the Town of C.B.S received the same amount of funding, there will be two brand new arenas constructed, along with the existing Robert French Memorial Arena. That's three ice surfaces in the same area, so to speak. The Town of Paradise's population continues to explode and a pool is in desperate need as well. We believe the majority of the Town's residents would be quite happy to see one ice surface and a pool, rather than two ice surfaces and no pool. We feel reasonably certain that the MHA's would be receptive to the pool/arena scenario as they know that the residents have already voiced the necessity of a pool. We believe that the Province would entertain the idea of changing the use of the funds. An MHA may look at this as a very positive initiative because it will only be a matter of time before the request comes in for a pool. We are in need of BOTH facilities. If the pool is not built with this funding then when will it happen?

We ask that this idea be addressed with all committee members, including Council. We are very lucky to receive this funding. We are not challenging the proposed arena, just merely suggesting that we explore our options and make the best use out of the funds received. Lets make sure that the decision is one that is in the Town's best interest. All opinions and suggestions are welcomed.”