The arena ice has been removed at the Meaford and St. Vincent Community Centre.
The municipality says in a release, the decision is due to the current provincewide shutdown which is set to last until at least February 11th.
The Arena will be shut down for the remaining 2020-2021 season.
The Municipality says the decision to remove the ice was confirmed at the Municipal Emergency Control Group, consisting of Council and staff representatives, during a meeting on Wednesday January 20th.
CAO Rob Armstrong says in a statement, “A decision to stop our arena ice operations part way through the season is not taken lightly, it was made with careful consideration.” He adds, “As a Municipality, we need to be fiscally and environmentally responsible, and when current COVID-19 restrictions prevent the ability to provide a service such as our arena for community use, it is the right decision to stop incurring expenditures in the interest of savings in tax dollars and energy consumption.”
The Municipality says the ice was put into the arena in late October, 2020 at the direction of Council and during that time, it had over 60 hours of weekly bookings that included the Georgian Shore Minor Hockey, Meaford Figure Skating Club, Meaford Knights, and a number of adult leagues.
Municipal staff say they will continue to monitor the Province’s COVID-19 restrictions in planning for the 2021-2022 arena season.
