The president of District 13 Recreation and Planning Commission, the owner and operator of the Ivor MacDonald Memorial Arena in Thorburn, Nova Scotia, says community spirit really paid off to put the rink in the running to win a national contest.
For its 20th anniversary, Kraft Hockeyville 2026 picked a finalist from each province and territory. It means they all get $50,000. In past years there would select the top four.
Randy Palmer has been with the arena’s organization since 1986. He tells Acadia News it felt great to finally be chosen.
“This is our third time at the campaign. We tried the first year that it came out. We did again last year, and my wife said to me this year, ‘why don’t we do it,'” says Palmer.
He says the nomination process started a couple of months ago and they had a rally in February with other successful events.
History and upgrades
The Ivor MacDonald Memorial Arena is named after a 20-year-old local athlete who died of cancer in 1970.
The facility opened a few years later and is now aging but according to Palmer, remains a major gathering place for Thornburn.
Skating at Ivor MacDonald Memorial Arena. PHOTO: RANDY PALMER/SUBMITTED
The winner of Kraft Hockeyville nabs $250,000 for arena upgrades, with the runner up receiving $100,000.
Palmer says the arena needs to have its exterior siding replaced and to add insulation to the walls.
“We’re also looking at a solar panel project too. So, if we are successful, the money could be used for that if we get other federal and provincial funding,” adds Palmer.
He says, if they are not successful, they will probably get a slew of smaller projects to do inside the arena.
“There is never a shortage of work to be done on an aging facility, that’s for sure,” says Palmer.
He says they are very thankful to be selected, making a lot of people the community very happy.
“We had a number of phone calls and things like that. People congratulating us and things like that. But it was a community effort, that’s for sure.”
The final two get selected, Saturday, with voting to start in April.
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