City Hall wants Thorold groups to breathe new life into James Whyte Arena

After careful consideration, City Hall has decided on the best candidates to make use of the James Whyte Arena — and they’re keeping it local.

As ThoroldToday reported, the city decommissioned the arena back in 2022, and while they’re working on a long-term strategy for 2027, they are looking for interim users.

After putting out a call for proposals, the city put together a list of interested parties with a feasibility analysis of each project. 

There were several criteria that the projects were judged on: alignment with the Parks, Trails and Recreation Master Plan, participation of Thorold residents, reliance on municipal staff support, organizational structure, and compatibility with existing city-run programming.

The list was recently presented to the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee and, after listening to their feedback, City Hall has declared their intent to work with the Thorold Community Activities Group (TCAG), the 128 Thorold Flying Dragons Royal Canadian Air Cadets Squadron and Thorold Minor Soccer Club to develop a collaborative operational plan.

“There’s interest from three groups that are all City of Thorold based,” said Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee chair Kieran Daniels, during the June 24 meeting. “That’s who should be using the facility, people from the community.”

The TCAG wants to use the empty arena to offer additional sports classes and programs, while the Flying Dragons want to use it for marching and parade practice, and the Thorold Soccer Club is looking for a space to train indoors during the winter months.

But the Parks, Trails and Recreation committee does want to leave the door open for other user groups.

“I don’t want to exclude anybody,” said committee member Peter DiPaola. “This facility isn’t just a 9-to-5 facility. I’m looking for even more dimensions on the whole thing that will help us frame it a little bit more.”

Through an allocation priority, other groups could still have a shot at using the arena. But everyone on the committee agrees that priority should be given to Thorold groups. Especially, since the TCAG already has administrative staff in place, so there would less burden on City Hall staff to lead the project.

A report on the matter will be presented to city council tomorrow evening.

There’s no firm timeline yet, but the city hopes to get the project off the ground by the end of the year.