(l-r: Marc Rivard (Legal Curling Club President), Gene Connors (Sturgeon Hockey Club President), Chris Wash (Senior Project Manager, Delnor Construction Ltd), Cathy Proulx (Trustee, Greater St Albert Catholic Schools), Honorable Dale Nally (Minister of Service Alberta & Red Tape Reduction), Deputy Mayor Carol Tremblay (Town of Legal), Mayor Alanna Hnatiw (Sturgeon County), Matthew Brown (Assistant Manager, Sturgeon Valley Fertilizers – Legal Branch), Derek Sampson (Technical Manager, BR2 Architecture), and Carma Holmes (Division Manager, Associated Engineering Alberta Ltd) – Town of Legal Photo
by MorinvilleNews.com Staff
Dignitaries, councillors, staff and Legal residents braved 32-degree weather on Friday to see the groundbreaking ceremony for the community’s arena and curling rink retrofit. The symbolic groundbreaking marked the start of the project, scheduled to open for the 2024/2025 curling season and 2025/2026 hockey season.
Design work on the project began in 2023, following Legal being awarded $7,159,360 through the Government of Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program.
Once completed, updates to the 60-year-old facility will include an NHL-sized ice surface, female dressing rooms, referee room, accessibility features throughout the facility, and a modernized lobby area.
Aligned with the federal grant program, the arena and curling rink will optimize energy efficiency systems, including an improved insulated building envelope and solar panels. Legal believes these upgrades will reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and overall operating costs.
“Albertans deserve access to modern and safe sport spaces. Today’s funding grant in the Legal Arena and Curling Rink is giving Legal residents just that,” said the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages in a Town of Legal media release last week. “By retrofitting their existing facilities, we’re modernizing amenities, improving energy efficiency, and making them accessible community spaces that everyone can enjoy.”
Also on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony was Honourable Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, who sees hockey and curling rinks as the cornerstone of Communities across the province. “As MLA for Morinville-St. Albert, I’m proud of the collaboration between the Town of Legal, Sturgeon Hockey Club, Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, the Federal Government, and the Government of Alberta,” Nally said. “It’s this kind of teamwork that ensure[s] projects like this move from concept to completion.”
The Town of Legal sees the upgrades as an opportunity to create local useage while ensuring sustainable operations for Legal and Sturgeon County residents and visitors to the community.
Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw said the County was proud to contribute to the improvements at the Legal Arena and Curling Rink. “Sturgeon County is committed to working with our municipal partners to provide recreation services and amenities that are accessible and enhance the high-quality of life that our residents value,” Hnatiw said. “Today, we are not just building an arena; we are creating a community hub and gathering space for generations to come.”
One of the primary users of the facility has been and will continue to be Sturgeon Hockey Club. To that end, SHC President Gene Connors said Friday’s groundbreaking was an exciting day for the Sturgeon Hockey Club. “We can’t wait for this premier facility to open where SHC players, coaches and volunteers alike, can continue to create lifelong memories and work together as one big team in growing the community of Legal and the entire surrounding region,” Connors said. “A community arena is where kids dare to dream and the cheers of the crowd fuels the fire and passion in the hearts of our players. We are very excited to start a new era of Sturgeon Hockey in Legal and are ecstatic for the endless possibilities that playing minor hockey in this beautiful facility will create.”
The Town of Legal recognized the various contributions and support for the project from the Government of Canada (Green & Inclusive Community Building Program), Province of Alberta (Community Facility Enhancement Program), Sturgeon County, Greater St Albert Catholic Schools, Sturgeon Hockey Club, Legal Curling Club, and Sturgeon Valley Fertilizers Ltd.
Town of Legal Council – Councillor Pat Hills, Councillor Fred Malott, Deputy Mayor Carol Tremblay and Councillor Andy Beaton with Honorable Dale Nally (Minister of Service Alberta & Red Tape Reduction). – Town of Legal Photo
Deputy Mayor Carol Tremblay (Town of Legal) and Mayor Alanna Hnatiw (Sturgeon County) – Town of Legal Photo
Sponsor signs – Town of Legal Photo
