Grand Valley celebrates $6-million community centre upgrade

GRAND VALLEY – A $6-million renovation and expansion of the Grand Valley and District Community Centre that began nearly five years ago was fully realized last week.

As a girls hockey team skated across a rink replaced during the renovations, community members and politicians gathered in the centre’s foyer to celebrate the milestone.

The upgrade includes a new ice surface, pro shop, six change rooms and accessible washrooms.

The building’s roof was repaired, insulation and siding have been installed and flooring was replaced throughout the centre.

Grand Valley Mayor Steve Soloman said without the shared government funding, the community may have lost its rink. The old, concrete floor was cracked, and piping for cooling was leaking.

“It could have been gone,” Soloman said.

Grand Valley CAO Meghan Townsend said the township received a federal-provincial Canada Infrastructure Program Community grant in 2021 to help cover the cost. The federal government provided $1.14 million and the province, almost $1 million.

At the municipal level, Grand Valley, Amaranth and East Garafraxa townships are covering the remaining balance.

In the first phase, Townsend said, the ice surface concrete was replaced; the layout of the arena area was refreshed with new benches, boards and glass; pipes below the ice were replaced and the first accessibility improvements made.

The second phase included the new change rooms, accessible washrooms, a new referees’ room and building repairs.

“It ended up costing, thanks to COVID, slightly more than originally planned,” said community centre board chair Gail Little.

“Somehow we will work our way through it and enjoy this great facility for years to come,” Little said, adding, “it’s hard to remember what it looked like before this happened.”

Ontario deputy premier and Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones said she’s “thrilled that we have been able to revitalize such an important hub in Grand Valley.”

Jones, also health minister, said the facility is “the prevention piece” in health care, providing residents a way to stay active.

Grand Valley resident Gail Clarke, who was at the event, has seen the centre undergo several changes since moving to the community in 1972.

Clarke said all three of her children have skated at the community centre over the decades.

Originally constructed in 1967, the rink’s concrete ice surface and piping was replaced in 2022 as part of the project.

In the late ’80s, an addition was added to the front with an upper level.

Over 20 years ago, the upper level was divided to create space for an EarlyON Child and Family Centre.

The latest construction began in earnest in 2025 and finished this year.

Residents explored the new washrooms and change rooms and hit the ice for a free public skate following remarks.

Lacing up his skates on one of the newly installed rink benches, George Beaubien said he has used the ice in its different forms weekly since moving to Grand Valley five years ago.

The Friday night skate was “beautiful to see,” Beaubien said, adding he was glad to be part of a small community with a quality facility for all.