Opinion | Stoney Creek Arena no longer on the budgetary chopping block
However it was that it ended up in the budget’s deletions column, Stoney Creek Arena won’t be closing now, Scott Radley writes.
Cathie Coward / The Hamilton Spectator
On Friday morning, the Stoney Creek Arena found itself on the chopping block in Mayor Andrea Horwath’s budget in order to save the city $161,000 a year.
By late Tuesday afternoon, the six-decade-old facility had been given a reprieve and will now remain open indefinitely.
“Today, I have directed staff to ensure the ice plant at the Stoney Creek Arena remains included in the proposed 2026 budget so that the arena can continue to serve the community,” Horwath wrote in a statement.
Chalk it up as a win for those passionate about keeping the place open. But what happened? What changed between Friday and Tuesday?
Different people have different answers.
The mayor says this whole thing was the result of an administrative error. She wrote in her statement that she had given staff clear instructions that any cost-saving trims could not compromise services. Yet that happened.
“The draft staff proposed budget had inappropriately imbedded within it the decommissioning of the ice plant at Stoney Creek Arena,” she wrote. “Contrary to my directive, this will have an impact on the families, teams and community groups who use this arena and this is unacceptable to me.”
However it was that it ended up in the budget’s deletions column, the place won’t be closing now. Instead, the accidental inclusion has been removed and the rink will remain.
The three councillors who represent Stoney Creek see things a little differently.
This decision was the result of a massive and passionate outcry from residents — as well as public criticism from local politicians and others — that changed the mayor’s mind, say Couns. Matt Francis, Jeff Beattie and Brad Clark.
If this was simply an error, Beattie wonders why Horwath didn’t say so when the issue was raised three times in the budget meeting on Friday. Her statement didn’t arrive until nearly five days later.
“It seems to me, if somebody was not in favour or spotted a mistake on Friday, to make a correction on Tuesday, that just seems odd,” he says.
Clark and Francis agree.
They all point to the fact that in the wake of Friday’s meeting when the planned cut was made public, supporters of the arena got engaged and fired up quickly.
Within hours, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MPP Neil Lumsden posted a public statement calling the proposed closure deeply concerning and short sighted. Then Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MP Ned Kuruc put out a statement urging the mayor to reconsider while calling the proposal an unnecessary cut. And the Stoney Creek Tigers senior hockey team that calls the building home said it was committed to fighting for an old barn that it said could be the “vibrant heart of Stoney Creek once again.”
As this was happening, the people got involved. All three councillors say they heard it. Francis says his social media, texts, phone lines and email exploded.
“The community lost its mind,” Beattie says.
Now here we are.
However it is we got to this point, the arena has been saved and Horwath is talking about the future of the place, along with what sounds like hints about future funding from the province to help with rec facilities around town.
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“I welcome the opportunity to work with (Lumsden) to ensure Hamilton is successful in obtaining funding from the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund,” she wrote. “His interest in this matter makes it clear that ensuring our city’s facilities are well maintained and able to serve Hamiltonians now and in the future is something we can all agree on.”
That $200-million fund was opened in 2024 and closed in 2025 with all the money spent, Lumsden says. But there was so much demand from municipalities and non-profits that he’s hoping it’ll be brought back at some point.
When it is, he says Hamilton should work to get some of that cash.
“We encourage it. We want communities to do it,” he says. “When it’s launched again, get on board.”
Meanwhile, in Friday’s meeting, Francis vowed he would be bringing forward amendments that would provide more savings in the budget than the $161,000 from the arena. After all, there remains a desire for council to rein in its spending and find efficiencies.
Even though the arena is no longer in jeopardy, he says he still intends to do that.
And what do the arena’s users make of everything that’s happened?
Daniel Svedin is co-owner of the Tigers. That club had already advertised Saturday evening’s game against Dundas as a community rallying point to try to help save the arena.
The fact that it’s been saved even before that happens?
“It is fabulous,” he says.