By Chad Ingram 

“Where is the arena at?” Councillor Bob Carter asked during an Aug. 31 meeting of Minden Hills council. There was no report regarding the arena on the agenda for that meeting.
“Our last report was that it was going to be completed in August, it’s now near the end of August, so where are we?” Carter asked.

“We are looking to be completed sort of mid-September for occupancy to turn over to the municipality,” said chief administrative officer and clerk Trisha McKibbin. “There are some finishes still underway at this time. I’ll also be bringing forward a report in September regarding the value-added items.”

The project’s “value-added items” are ones that were not included in its base budget. The optional items total an estimated $430,000 and range from everything from paving the balance of the parking lot to murals and lobby furniture.The township has a grant of $130,000 it can use toward the items, leaving a cost of approximately $300,000 to the municipality if council chose to purchase all the items.

The project’s initial budget was just less than $12.5 million, that amount later increased to $12.75 million upon the request of the builder, Ottawa’s McDonald Brothers Construction Limited.

At the Aug. 31 meeting, council also approved a list of members for a new fundraising committee for the project, after an initial fundraising committee was disbanded. The members of the new committee are Eric Casper, Emma Hamilton, Betty Mark, Councillor Jennifer Hughey and McKibbin. It was mentioned at the meeting the committee is still looking for a couple of additional members.