City approves funding for North Peace Arena upgrades

The City of Fort St. John has approved more than $227,000 in upgrades to the North Peace Arena.

Councilors voted unanimously on the recommendation at Monday night’s city council meeting.

$75,000 of the allocated money will be coming from the RinC grant that the City acquired last summer. The remaining $151,000 will be coming from the 2010 Capital Budget, prior to its final adoption in the upcoming months.

The improvements include:
– The addition of lighting to reach a minimum of 100 candles. Currently, the arena has 50-75 candle lighting.
– The addition of added safety netting.
– The construction of a ‘low emissivity’ reflective-lighting ceiling. The two part improvement project will attempt to reduce operation costs through energy conservation.
– The upgrading of the arena’s floor.

These improvements should be completed by the 2010 Allan Cup competition in April.