BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to 'PLAYING FIELD: The 'cold, harsh reality' of arena expansion,' published April 22.
I remember the old Barrie Arena on Dunlop Street.
In the 1960s, that arena held approximately 2,200 people.
At that time, Barrie’s population was approximately 25,000.
Fast forward to 1995. A new arena was built with a capacity of approximately 4,300.
Barrie’s population was approximately 60,000. The arena was not built then with enough seating for the population of Barrie.
Now fast forward to today. Barrie has grown in leaps and bounds to over 145,000 yet there has only been talk of an increase to the current facility to 5,000 seats or to maybe to 8,500 seats.
Yes, there needs to be better back-end facilities for hockey teams and other events, that’s a given.
But let’s be sensible here. We need an arena that has a capacity to support Barrie’s population and attract even more events.
The cost of this facility is enormous, I know that. But either we do this expansion right or continue with an outdated facility.
The citizens of Barrie deserve better.
Pete Desormeaux
Barrie
