Watrous Centennial Arena

Watrous, Saskatchewan
Added: May 22, 2009
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Watrous is your average small town Saskatchewan community. In the winter the Hockey Rink and the Curling Rink are the two most popular buildings in town, in the spring and summer the local Golf Course and numerous baseball fields are a bustling hub of activity and in the fall the football field is host to the local High School 6-Man squad. Sports and Recreation play a big part in Watrous as a community. Over the past few years Watrous has seen many improvements as far as recreational facilities go. The local Curling Club through some aggressive fundraising built a brand new Curling Rink in 1997. The Town of Watrous took on the project of building a new outdoor swimming pool which opened in the summer of 2005, the citizens of Watrous contributed many hours of volunteer service and many dollars in donations to make the new swimming pool a reality. The 4 baseball diamonds in Watrous got a major facelift in the late 90’s with new fencing being put in, dugouts being built, and new shale being put in the infield with all manual labour being provided by local volunteers. All of these improvements were greatly needed, but unfortunately while all of these projects were being pushed to the forefront the Watrous Centennial Arena which houses all the hockey teams in Watrous was put on the backburner. The Watrous Centennial Arena was built in 1967 and has served Watrous well over those 40+ years. Although some improvements have been made to the exterior of the building which makes it look quite attractive from the outside your perception will quickly change when you walk through the front doors. The roof starts to leak in the spring when the weather gets too warm outside, the majority of the rink is made out of wood including the stands and railings and they are all in a desperate need of a paint job. The doors to the players benches often don’t close properly and the benches themselves likely haven’t been replaced since 1967. The Flooring in the Lobby which is where the food booth is located is cracked in some areas and once again is likely the same flooring that has been there since 1967. The Watrous Centennial Arena plays host to all ages of Minor Hockey teams as well as a Senior Hockey Team, the Watrous Winterhawks who compete in the LLHL and have won several League and Provincial titles. There are also several Adult Rec Hockey teams which play a couple of nights a week. These teams and the citizens of Watrous deserve a better facility, and $25,000 in upgrades would be a great start to get some of the more urgent issues addressed. Watrous is also celebrating its 100th Birthday this summer. A large homecoming celebration is planned for July 3rd, 4th, and 5th and I know that one of the best birthday presents Watrous could ask for would be $25,000 in much needed improvements for the Watrous Centennial Arena.

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