WINGHAM, ONT. -- The Listowel Memorial Arena will be demolished sometime next year.
The nearly 60-year-old arena is built on the site of one of Listowel’s worst tragedies.
On Feb. 28, 1959 the roof of the previous Listowel Arena came crashing down on top of a team of peewee hockey players, killing seven players and their coach.
The incident left the town in shock and it would take several years before another arena was built.
That facility, the Listowel Memorial Arena, has been closed for the past couple of years, after the recent construction of the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex on the other side of town.
After years of debate, North Perth council has decided that the old arena will be torn down, and the land repurposed.
What exactly happens on the site is still to be decided, although Mayor Todd Kasenberg favours maintaining control of the land so it can be used for something recreational.
“It’s going to be a very carefully planned removal of the building, and redevelopment of the site,” says the mayor.
One thing is for certain, a memorial of some kind to the 1959 tragedy will be erected on the site.
North Perth’s acting director of recreation, Amy Gangl, says that day will not be forgotten.
“Every choice we’re making from here on will also have the respect intensified. We’ll always have it on our minds,” she says.
No specific demolition date has been finalized, although the Listowel Memorial Arena is expected to come down sometime in 2020.
