Municipality of Central Manitoulin moves to decommission Providence Bay Arena

A public meeting discussing the decommissioning of the Providence Bay Arena will be taking place next Wednesday (Jan. 21).
Darren Dewar sits on the municipal Providence Bay Community Centre Board.
He says the council of the Municipality of Central Manitoulin passed a motion to decommission the ice plant at the Providence Bay Arena next season with no public consultation.
He says back in December, the municipality’s Property Committee sent a motion to council asking the arena to be closed for the 2026-27, adding council then took it one step further amending the motion to decommission the ice plant.
He appeared before council this past Tuesday asking why, with the cost of running the facility at a constant deficit being cited by one of the councillors.
He says Mayor Richard Stephens stated he did not like how the decision was made without public consultation and has now called for a town hall meeting.
Dewar adds discussing the possible closure of the Spring Bay Hall is also on the table, with that the town hall meeting called by the mayor to be held at the Providence Bay Hall on February 11th, also at 7 pm.