Before 1967 if you wanted to skate or play hockey in Maple Ridge, you did so on ponds, rivers or lakes.
In 1967 Maple Ridge opened the Centennial Arena downtown which was located
roughly between the current City Hall and Haney Place mall.
It was more than a rink for hockey, figure skating and lacrosse. As the venue with the largest seating capacity in the city, it also hosted concerts, community dances, trade shows, fairs and high school graduation ceremonies.
The rink, which was later renamed the Cam Neely Arena, and served the community until 1998.
Planet Ice opened in Albion with two ice sheets in 1998.
Since then, Maple Ridge has relied on those same two public ice sheets for hockey and recreational skating.
On June 30, 2026, Mayor Dan Ruimy and A Better Maple Ridge Councillors Korleen Carreras and Onyeka Dozie, together with Councillor Judy Dueck, approved the Recreation Ready funding strategy.
The question they are asking you to vote on is…
Do you support the City borrowing up to $143 million, repayable over a term of up to 25 years,
to fund the proposed Albion Twin-Rink Arenas Expansion?
What you need to know before you decide…
Our Council approved adding this accent vote (referendum) for two rinks to the ballet without site drainage remediation or ALC (Agricultural Land Commission) approval.
The drainage issue at this site has persisted for over twenty years and it could be years before the site's drainage is verifiably brought into compliance with ALC standards—if ever.
If the vote is no, I suggest taking this in a new direction.
The federal government created the “Build Communities Strong Fund” and has committed $51 billion over ten years to fund new community and recreational facilities.
It will be difficult to secure funding for any project without ALC approval so instead of waiting indefinitely, the city should be seeking funding to build a larger arena now with more seating capacity that the ALC will approve.
We are one of the only cities of our size in the province whose high school and community events are being held in other cities. We desperately need more ice capacity and a larger arena.
This is the type of recreational infrastructure the new federal fund was designed for.