Future of Taché recreation breaks ground

Years of community effort to build a new arena in Lorette have finally led to the official groundbreaking for the construction of the Taché Community Centre Tuesday in Lorette.

More than just an ice surface, when it opens in mid to late 2026 it will also house a library, senior centre with a kitchen, and year-round recreation space.

Utility work has already started. Construction led by Three Way Builders out of Steinbach is expected to start soon, with work continuing through the winter.

The new $29.5-million centre replaces the 60-year-old Lorette Community Centre, which will be torn down after construction. Surrounded by the skatepark, soccer fields, splash pad, ball diamonds, outdoor arena, and walking paths, the goal is to make Lorette a regional recreation hub.

Taché Mayor Armand Poirer gave a speech prior to the sod turning ceremony on what the centre means for the people in the RM and area.

“Once assembled, it will become the heart and soul of this community, where we will celebrate victories, share our grief, teach our children how to be humble champions, and to be gracious in defeat.

“Seniors will congregate here and celebrate, while library patrons bask in their new long-awaited facility. Truly, this will be a venue for all Taché citizens.

“This new facility will be a precursor of even greater things to come in the future,” said Poirier.

Manitoba Minister of Municipal and Northern Relations Ian Bushie was one of 11 dignitaries to turn sod at the ceremony.

He also knows the old arena well, spending plenty of time in the old barn as a parent of a player and as a coach with Eastman minor hockey.

“I think when you have your children and even yourself go through the recreation aspects of what we are in Manitoba, whether it be hockey, baseball, and you get to meet a lot of different communities and different kids from different backgrounds, that’s a life experience that everybody really treasures.”

“Will you miss that? Yes, but it’s exciting to know that those memories will come with the new facility as well,” said Bushie.

He spoke to the economic hub and its spin-offs created with the facility, and what having a new library as part of it could mean as the Province encourages regionalization and municipalities working together.

“When you get into the communities, whether it be geographically 10 miles apart or 100 miles apart there’s a lot of connectivity. So when you talk about this community in particular, I think it’s a real at-home and real kind of centralization,” said Bushie.

His NDP government committed an extra $5 million to the project as an election campaign promise last fall, with leader Wab Kinew travelling to Lorette to make the announcement. That money is on top the nearly $4 million already pledged by the previous PC government, putting the provincial contribution at $8.67 million.

That money was needed as costs kept going up on the $29.5-million facility.

When federal and provincial funding was announced in January 2023, the cost was optimistically estimated at $11 million for a 62,000-sq.-ft. arena and 8,000-sq.-ft. library.

When a hearing was held in May on the RM of Taché borrowing $6 million to help fund the project, details listed included the two-storey centre having a $750,000 elevator included in the pricetag. An outdoor terrace and patio area was taken out to save money. The arena was to have enough bleachers to seat 300. The curling rink will also benefit when it is hooked up to the new arena’s ice plant.

The $6 million loan was approved by council earlier this month.

Other funding sources include $4.63 million in federal grants, $1.2 million from the Manitoba Hydro Community Development Initiative reserve, $3.72 million from the Canada Community Building Fund (formerly called the gas tax) reserve, $3.05 million from Tache’s capital improvement at large reserve, $373,287 from the Tache Complex reserve, $1.5 million from Lorette LUD’s capital and surplus reserves, $349,500 from the Seniors Club, $100,000 from the Bibliothèque Taché Library, and $308,500 from a Chase the Ace fundraiser led by volunteers who lobbied to ensure a new library was part of the new centre.

The current library is attached to the high school. School divisions across Manitoba have been moving away from sharing space with public libraries as space is running out in growing communities, and hours are limited to outside school hours.

There is also a push by Public Library Services — a policy and program unit run under Manitoba’s Sport, Culture and Heritage ministry — to have municipalities work together to regionalize their libraries. This provides an opportunity for places without a library or looking for a new space to work with neighbours who do have space, like Lorette soon will. It also saves money for the local governments as the province increases funding based on how many municipalities are working together — more joining a regional library means more provincial money.

Mayor Poirier said with Lorette, Taché and the Southeast continuing to grow and pressure being put on municipalities to increase services, working together was necessary on a range of issues.

“Our citizens are taxed to the max, and we can’t reduce the services,” said Poirier.

The mayor also acknowledged the 36-hour hockey tournament, which had its first event way back in March 2002 to keep the old arena from closing due to mold. He listed former mayors and others who worked over the many years to make the centre a reality, some who have since passed.

Poirier then in French touted the RM’s bilingualism and the new centre’s ability to connect residents and visitors to French language and culture.

The mayor also thanked the federal government represented by Minister Dan Vandal, who said he is retiring from politics when the next election is called.

“That’s the reason people get into politics, to make positive change in communities,” said Vandal.