Investment Advances Langenburg Multiplex Project
The Langenburg Skating Arena has hosted a lot of hockey over the years, but a host of issues has the town planning for a major shift change.
“Three years ago, we did an assessment of the current arena and with the aging infrastructure, there were just too many big problems that needed fixing, so we decided to start fundraising for a new multiplex,” says Joann McDonell, Director of Sport, Leisure, Culture and Promotions for the town of Langenburg, Sask.
To get the ball rolling, a Multiplex Fundraising Committee was formed to lead the effort. While the project is expected to receive support from provincial and federal funding programs, the community will still be responsible for a significant portion of the estimated $15 to $25 million cost once final designs are complete.
As chair of the Committee, McDonell has been managing the daunting task of raising the funds, and was very grateful when Langenburg’s mayor, Jeff Farmer, brought ADAMA Canada’s Stomping Grounds community investment initiative to her attention.
Seeing that their project fit the funding criteria of strengthening the fabric of rural communities, the Committee submitted an application and was informed in April they were selected for a $10,000 investment from ADAMA.
“The whole community has really rallied around this project, and it gets people excited when you get a bigger dollar amount like that. It just seems to revive people and give them a push to keep going,” says McDonell.
Stomping Grounds
Langenburg’s Multiplex is one of 23 community projects from across Canada that received funding from ADAMA this year. The company invested a total of $127,000 into the 23 projects and has contributed over half a million dollars since 2018 to strengthen the fabric of rural communities.
Neil Abrahamson, East Saskatchewan and Parkland Area Business Manager, had the honour of personally delivering the cheque to McDonell, along with Farmer, Hayley Senkowski, and Chris Mannle of NewGen Ag.
“The investment the town and people of Langenburg are making in community spaces, like the pool and now this multiplex, are pretty impressive,” says Abrahamson. “When I dropped by with the cheque and they were sharing the plans for the Multiplex with me you can tell their passion to get things done is something the whole community shares.”
When it is done, the plan is for the multiplex to be more than just a skating rink, but a year-round facility that is the meeting hub of the community with activities potentially happening on any day of the year.
“This is our last main project and it’s the big piece that we were really missing. You go to those hockey games, and you can see how excited the kids are and how it brings the community together,” says McDonell. “If we don’t replace the rink, I don’t know how we’d ever fill the hole that it would leave in our community.”