麻豆视频

Estevan city council likely made the right move when it tabled a decision to permanently close the Civic Auditorium on Monday night.

After all, it鈥檚 one of the biggest decisions council will face during this term. They have had the report on the Civic鈥檚 issues for only two weeks, and there鈥檚 still some more information that council says it needs.

Council has taken far more time with far less pressing decisions than this. They will spend at least two meetings discussing bylaws, regardless of the nature of the bylaw.

So what鈥檚 the harm in taking two more weeks to decide the future of a 60-year-old arena?

If nothing else, Monday night鈥檚 meeting showed the unwavering support that many still have for the old rink. Dozens of people attended the meeting, the largest crowd for an open council meeting in many years. They filled the seats at the back of council chambers, lined the council chamber鈥檚 walls and stood outside of council chambers to hear the ideas exchanged.

You can be certain that most of them were there because they want to see the Civic remain open.

It was great to see so many people at the meeting.

Warren Waldegger, a well-known member of the community and a Civic user who also happens to be a professional engineer, voiced lots of concerns about the survey from WSP Group that caused council to close the Civic back on Nov. 7. As you would expect, he had valid concerns.

Whether his concerns actually change council鈥檚 stance on the Civic won鈥檛 be known until Dec. 4. And there鈥檚 no guarantee that council will vote to close the Civic at that time.

Of course, there are lots of people in the community who believe it鈥檚 time to close the Civic. They believe the WSP Group report shows the issues the Civic is facing. Some of them likely have a hard time believing the Civic is still open to begin with.

They want to see the Civic torn down, a third ice surface constructed next to the Power Dodge ice Centre, and possibly a field house constructed for indoor sports at the site of the Civic.

Others want to see the city proceed with just two arenas, and forego the idea of the field house as well.

Regardless, council is not going to make everyone happy. There are several different options council can proceed with; each one will have significant opposition.

We believe Estevan has a need for a third arena. We also see the benefits in creating some kind of a field house structure. And we definitely have a soft spot for the Civic.

But any money spent on the Civic has to make sense. You can鈥檛 dump significant amounts of money on a building to extend its life expectancy by just a few years. The taxpayers of this city deserve better.

If there鈥檚 a way to save the Civic for a low amount, then it should be considered.

Council also has to avoid emotion when making its decision.

A decision needs to be made soon. Council needs to decide whether to spend the money to save the Civic and keep it open for a few years, or it needs to close the arena and move on.

The 2018 budget is looming. It鈥檚 imperative for council to decide the Civic鈥檚 future by then.