qplex Will Open Again In September

Quispamsis town council has approved a plan to gradually reopen the qplex starting Sept. 21.

The arena has been closed for the past few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dana Purton Dickson, director of community services, said they would look at booking ice from 4 to 11:30 p.m. weekdays and from 7:15 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on the weekends.

“We have had a great deal of interest expressed from our user groups for those times and we believe that we can book that ice to 100 per cent capacity,” Purton Dickson told council Tuesday night.

Once the ice is up and running, Purton Dickson said they would look at a gradual return of the walking track and conference centre, though no dates have been set.

She said they also hope to open the Quispamsis Memorial Arena (QMA) to the public in January.

“Staff at the qplex and QMA have been reallocated for the summer over to the parks and facilities department so we would recall some of those staff to the qplex for beginning to make ice around Labour Day and then we would recall the remainder in December,” said Purton Dickson.

Deputy Mayor Libby O’Hara said she is happy to see a solid plan in place to reopen the facilities safely.

“Being a part of this organization has demonstrated to me that safety comes first with the residents, with council, with staff. I’m really happy to see that we’re not just going by a shoelace here,” said O’Hara.

The town has lost more than $157,000 in revenue up to the end of May, mainly due to the closure of the qplex, the Quispamsis Memorial Arena and other facilities.

But expenses are also down by $296,000, mainly due to reductions in staffing, travel, programming, fuel and electricity.