Prince George Recreational Hockey League president Al Hines is calling on supporters of an additional arena at Exhibition Park to show their support at tonight's city council meeting.
Hines said he's angry the issue was called back for reconsideration by Mayor Dan Rogers, after council voted five-to-two in favour of building the arena on June 13.
"We hope people will turn out [tonight] and show their support. A huge, huge number of people in this city believe this is the right thing to do," Hines said. "If [the arena working group] is given the chance to work, they can the costs down close to the $15.8 million. We've done our homework and it's just not going to be be $6.4 million more."
Hines said there has not been a better opportunity to address the shortage of ice time in the city. According to city staff, prime time arena use is at nearly 100 per cent usage and non-prime times are booked to 90 per cent of capacity.
There is no ice time available for user groups who want to expand sports like hockey, figure skating, sledge hockey and ringette.
"There is a group that wants to put together a women's ringette league. There is no ice time for them," he said. "If they don't do it now, this battle will continue. If you spend an extra 10 or 20 cents on the dollar, you get a legacy that will serve the community for the next 20 years."
Demolishing Kin 1 would also reduce the amount of ice available for training in Prince George during the two years leading up to the 2015 Canada Winter Games, he added.
City councillor Shari Green, who spearheaded the motion to develop a stand-alone arena, said she plans to voice her support for the arena for a fourth time tonight.
"This is something I've believed for over a year. This is a better legacy for the community," Green said. "If it costs more money, but we walk away with additional valuable infrastructure, that is a better legacy. [And] I think the cost of the new arena can be reduced substantially by attaching it to the Kin Centre."
Green said if costs can't be brought down by the working group appointed by council, then there will be a chance to reconsider.
"If we do a ton of work and can't shave enough off... I fully expect council to say, 'no thanks, we can't afford it,'" Green said.
