Photo: Contributed

The information has been presented, opinions stated and discussions held, and now the fate of a new sheet of ice is in the hands of voters.

A referendum on Saturday will determine if Greater Vernon residents will give their permission for the borrowing of $13.25 million to build a second ice sheet at Kal Tire Place.

Doug Ross, director of recreation services, said hundreds of people checked out the 17 public information booths about the second sheet of ice.

A website with frequently asked questions was visited more than 2,900 times.

“Our main goal with the information campaign was to educate the public, inform them of the issue and encourage them to get out and vote,” said Ross.

“We're still get asked why don't we just fix the Civic. Why don't we build a new arena on the site of the Civic?” said Ross, of some of the queries people had at the information booths. “To do that we would have to tear down the existing facility and that would displace the users for up to three years. The answer is the same for renovating it. We would have to gut it and rebuild it.”

Simply renovating the building would cost $10 million. To bring the ice surface to regulation NHL size would cost an additional $3 million according to engineering reports.

“We would not recommend putting more than $10 million into a shell that is almost 80 years,” said Ross.

People have also been asking if there is enough usage to warrant a new sheet of ice and could the public get by with just Kal Tire Place and the Pleasant Valley arena.

Ross said the Civic is booked from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 3:30-10 p.m. Monday to Friday.

“Priest Valley and Kal Tire place are actually busier,” said Ross, noting 75 per cent of the non-prime time at Kal Tire Place is booked all week.

“If we were to lose the Civic without replacing it, there is not enough capacity in the system to accommodate all the civic users. If people have to play too early in morning or too late at night there is a good chance they would just stop playing.”

Should the referendum pass, Ross said as little money as possible would be sunk into the Civic during the three years it will take to build the second ice sheet.

Once the new sheet of ice is up and running, the Official Community Plan calls for the Civic Arena to come down and the space become a park.

The land would also have a north-south road running through it that would feature a multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians.

The public can cast their votes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Qualified electors within the City of Vernon, District of Coldstream and Electoral Areas B and C of the North Okanagan Regional District can vote at any of the following locations:

BX Elementary School – gymnasium, 5849 Silver Star Rd., Vernon

Coldstream Elementary School – gymnasium, 10104 Kalamalka Rd., Coldstream

Ellison Elementary School – gymnasium, 2400 Fulton Rd., Vernon

Silver Star Elementary School – gymnasium, 1404 - 35th Ave., Vernon

Vernon Recreation Complex – auditorium, 3310 - 37th Ave., Vernon