By John Francis
Our municipality is facing a double whammy: deteriorating infrastructure and a rising population. And we’re not the only ones. The Government of Ontario has identified a pattern across the province — municipal reserves that are inadequate to service anticipated infrastructure upkeep expenses. To put it bluntly — if municipalities aren’t broke yet, they soon will be.
Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula Council increased the tax levy by 1% last year and another 4% this year, just to beef up our Reserves. But given the big-ticket items we are going to need (a new arena and community centre in Lion’s Head, a sewage system in Lion’s Head, water and sewage systems in Tobermory, just for starters) a lot more money will be required.
So why is infrastructure suddenly so hard to fund? What does history tell us?
Two history books (both out of print) provide a record of how Lion’s Head and Eastnor Township evolved over the last 150 years — Walter Warder’s Between You and Me and the Gatepost (1977) and Eastnor Township’s history Benchmarks, edited by Glenn Hepburn (1987).
The history of skating rinks in Lion’s Head offers a bit of insight.
The First Arena — 1908
From Benchmarks (p 301):
“Lion’s Head was fortunate to have a huge covered skating rink, 70’ X 195’ in size and costing $3,000 to construct. The rink was built in 1908 near the inner harbour and the northeast gales whipped across the Bay as you bucked into it on your way to the evening hockey game.
The ice was flooded after each game or at the end of evening skating by the young men carrying buckets of water from the old well at the south end of the rink. There was no pump — just this bucket brigade. The ante-rooms were heated by pot-bellied stoves which we huddled around to keep warm.”
Benchmarks does not mention whose land this rink occupied, nor how it was funded. But I would point out that many amenities in that era were fundraised and maintained by service clubs and volunteer organizations. For example: the first library in Lion’s Head was created by the Mechanics Institute (a service club) in 1888. That initiative folded in 1906, but the Women’s Institute (another service club) started another library in 1909 in the Orange Hall (owned and maintained by yet another service club).
The Second Arena — 1958
Also on page 301 of Benchmarks is an undated account by Margaret Bogers of a 1950s fundraising event for a new arena. The event featured live bluegrass and country music beginning at 4:00PM, a beef dinner that fed 500 people and a dance that lasted until 1:00AM. In addition to the proceeds of the dinner and dance, there were $1,028 in donations plus a pledge of another $500.
There was an article in the Wiarton Echo on March 6, 1958 under the headline “COMMUNITY CENTRE OFFICIALLY OPENED”. It began: “Lion’s Head and District Community Centre was officially opened at a ceremony held at the new arena on Friday night.
Maitland Warder was the master of ceremonies and spoke briefly on the construction of the new building. … He thanked everyone for their help in the project both financially and the giving of so much free labour.
Five of the very faithful men put in from 398 hours of free time to 567 hours since the beginning of the project on October 14. Many others from Tobermory to Wiarton helped whenever they could spare a moment of their time…”
The Current Arena — 1983
On page 302 of Benchmarks, there is a story from 25 years later, detailing the building of the next arena. The undated, unattributed news story is from 1983, with the headline “ARENA OFFICIALLY OPENED”. It states: “Lion’s Head’s new $504,000 arena was officially opened Saturday with a special ribbon cutting ceremony that was attended by a number of dignitaries.
The building of the arena started after the old arena was condemned last year. Funding for the new building was as follows: Wintario Grant, $245,000; CRCA Grant, $122,500; Eastnor Township, $24,125; Lindsay Township, $24,125; Lion’s Head, $24,125; St Edmunds $24,125 and from public donations, $40,000.”
That is, the four municipalities combined to cover — wait for it — 19.15% of the cost. I can’t resist pointing out that Bruce County contributed precisely — nothing.
The Next Arena – $30Million?
Our current arena is still in reasonable shape, although things are definitely starting to wear out. Maintenance costs will rise as time goes by. Do we want to keep pouring money into it? Or build a much better facility on a much better site to serve our growing population?
The scope and budget for such a facility are still hypothetical, but the number $30 million has been bandied about. That is close to 400% of MNBP’s annual budget.
What are the chances that the province and the feds will cover all but 19% of that cost? Or that we could fundraise $30 million? Don’t hold your breath.
