Members of the public from Martensville and the surrounding area were able to get a first look inside the community’s new recreation centre today.

Martensville Mayor Kent Muench says the process to build the 145,000 square-foot facility began 12 years ago with nothing more than a vision. Securing enough funding seemed like a daunting task, but the community succeeded.

“We have about $35 million coming from the federal and provincial governments, and then the volunteers have raised over $4 million, and the City and the residents of Martensville were contributing the rest.”

Muench says the fully accessible building features an arena with room for over 900 people, indoor golf, a rock-climbing wall, a second, smaller sheet of ice, several aspects of Indigenous culture, and soon, a full-sized indoor soccer pitch, which the mayor says is just one of few in the province.

He says the ice surfaces were one of the main asks from the public following several community engagement sessions held at the beginning of the planning process.

“Before hand, we had a rink that was built in the eighties. It was full, totally full. We were renting more ice outside of the community than inside the community, so this is a huge relief,” he beamed.

He adds that the list of associations hoping to rent or utilize the new facility is already growing. For example, the soccer pitch is being eyed up by several Saskatoon soccer and flag football clubs.

“We can’t fill this facility on our own, and it was never meant to be. From the beginning, we saw this as a regional facility…. We have all sorts of people that aren’t from Martensville that are equally excited to be part of this facility.”

Although the doors opened to the public today, finishing touches are expected to be complete by January.