Elliot Lake reaches original arena fundraising goal, announces fundraising overtime period

The City of Elliot Lake announced last week that it had reached its original fundraising goal for its arena – but is going to keep things going.

Former residents Jamie (shown on monitor in backgroun) and Jo-Ann Armstrong, who now live in Arizona, heard about the City of Elliot Lake’s recent efforts to restore the arena and knew they wanted to help. The couple donated $300,000 to kick off the Jamie and Jo-Ann Armstrong Centennial Arena Fundraising Challenge with the hopes of raising $500,000. (File photo/CTV News Northern Ontario)

The Jamie and Jo-Ann Armstrong Centennial Arena Fundraising Challenge has surpassed its original goal of $500,000 in donations.

The challenge which launched on April 12 hit its final milestone with a $100,000 donation from BHP on June 27.

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Capitalizing on the fundraiser’s momentum, the organizers announced that the fundraiser will now go into ‘overtime.’ This extra ‘period’ will last until the end of August and will allow community members and groups to continue raising funds to offset the cost of the structural repairs required to reopen the Centennial Arena.

“In our hearts, we knew it was a conservative goal,” said Elliot Lake Skating President Chantal Robert.

“We didn’t think we would get there so quickly. This has been an incredible show of community support.”

Elliot Lake city councillor Charlie Flintoff told CTV News that it had been a long time since everyone in the community was on the same page like this.

Flintoff said it all started with the city’s Kraft Hockeyville win, which earned them $250,000 towards the arena’s much-needed repairs.

“There are always a lot of issues but everything was put aside and the complete City of Elliot Lake - past people and present - they all came together for that and they have kept it going with this fundraising project,” he said.

The Centennial Arena was closed in September 2023 due to concerns about the structural integrity of the building. This meant that the 2023-24 seasons for minor hockey, figure skating and Junior A Hockey had to be played out of town causing hardship to parents and organizations alike.

Work is underway to repair the arena with the hopes of an opening date in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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Groups and individuals looking to contribute to the fund can do so by clicking here.

“It is still going to go on, as they say,” said Flintoff.

“We are not stopping it until the end of August so as Mayor Wayman said we are now into what they’re calling fundraising ‘overtime.’”

With files from CTVNorthernOntario.ca journalist Ian Campbell