Perdue lost their arena on May 23rd, 2015 in a fire. Since then, the community has been left without an indoor arena. The hope is to have the arena operational by the end of this year.
The latest fundraiser took place this past weekend. Perdue hosted the Dueling Pianos on Saturday evening. Vivian Eaton, member of the Perdue Arena Rebuild group, said the fundraiser was a success, "Everyone there had a really good time. It went over very well... We had heard about them, they performed in Biggar. Some people went to that and said that it awesome and that we should book them for a fundraiser." Along with the money raised through ticket sales, the dueling pianos also donated all their tips back to the rebuild project. Eaton estimates they raised around $7,800.
This puts their total amount to $350,000 - $400,000. Eaton estimates the end cost to rebuild will be around $1.9 million.
The arena's shell has been completed. Eaton mentions that as soon as the ground dries, construction on the inside will start. This will include the water lines, sewer, in-floor heating and concrete. The village expects the rink to be functional by the end of 2017, but not completely finished by 2018.
Left without an arena, Eaton said the local hockey teams had to travel to neighboring towns for practices and games this past season. However, Eaton mentions that a few kids have been out on the ice, "Kids have been skating out on our slough. There were some fellows that scraped it off, brought in lights and had bonfires."
Sat, Apr 20, 8:30 AM
