It’s been a whirlwind few days for the Preston Figure Skating Club as it finds itself in search of a new temporary home for their annual gala once the Preston Memorial Auditorium expansion project begins.
In order to complete the work to the current auditorium, it will require the demolition of the Kinsmen Centre located at 1400 Hamilton St. to make way for additional parking. The building is home to both the figure skating club and the Kin Club of Preston.
The expansion and tear down presents two major problems for the figure skating club as the Preston Auditorium serves as the home to its annual gala and the Kinsmen Centre is a production and storage space of its large props.
At the Feb. 9 public budget delegation meeting, board members for the club requested the demolition be deferred until other options are considered, but the city has already spent $328,000 on the projects design.
Shane Taylor, project lead for the City of Cambridge, presented several alternative gala and storage space options during a budget delegation meeting on Thursday.
“City staff are aware of the impact of construction and demolition on the Preston Figure Skating Club,” Taylor said.
“For their annual gala event, they will have ice time booked at the largest of the new rinks at the Cambridge Ice Park, which has a 400 seat capacity.”
For practice time, the club will have access to both the Cambridge Ice Park and Karl Homuth Arena.
In addition to practice time, Ward 3 councillor Corey Kimpson put forth a motion to direct staff to report to council in the second quarter of 2023 on the scope and resource requirements to complete a space utilization review that centres around the decommissioning process of Karl Homuth Arena and the feasibility of the Preston Figure Skating Club using the space for their prop shed once construction is complete.
The motion carried unanimously.
Taylor also noted that that the city is proposing a prop shed replacement at 1920 Rogers Drive, approximately 3.7 kilometres from the Preston Auditorium and a costume and sewing space at the 1580 Queenston Rd.
“Project staff are aware that a change of this magnitude will require the Preston Figure Skating Club to be creative in how they build and transport their sets,” Taylor said.
“We also sincerely feel that this is a good option for the club, and even one they could get excited about.”
Kevin Wheeler, director of the gala show and head coach at the Preston Figure Skating Club, says the club found out about the potential alternative options in an email from the city the night before the first budget meeting on Thursday.
Stopping short of calling the options good news, Wheeler said it’s definitely a “step in the right direction.”
When it comes to using the the new ice pads at the Cambridge Ice Park for their gala, it’s hard to analyze the impact on their operations given the they're still under construction, Wheeler says.
“It poses a lot of questions for us,” Wheeler said.
“The Cambridge Ice Park only seats 400 people and we usually sell out the Preston Aud at 900 seats. We’d have to increase the number of shows to offset the difference, but at the same time we’d have to increase the cost of things like ice time fees, scissor lifts and lighting. It comes down to the feasibility of adding all those extra costs.”
Aside from the financial cost, there will also be a greater time and physical commitment to produce more shows.
Putting on four or five shows in a two and a half day period instead of the typical two shows will take its toll on the volunteers and athletes, Wheeler says.
Wheeler feels the option to use the Karl Homuth Arena across the road from the auditorium for the prop shed would be the best available solution given its close proximity to their current location.
While there’s a lot to iron out regarding what the next two years will look like for the club, Wheeler knows that everyone must compromise to make it work.
“We want to work with the city on this,” he said.
“Our biggest thing is seeing growth and new facilities. We’re in favour of the twinplex rinks, we’re not trying to stand in the way of that, we just want to be included. We understand it’s a situation where we have to work together.”
