St. Paul arenas get upgrades

Fundraising from CAP committee and grants will give the arena another life.

St. Paul’s CAP and Clancy Richard arenas have each had new life breathed into them.

Both arenas have had significant work done on their infrastructure during the COVID-19 lockdown in order to better serve the public and sports organization within the community.

For the CAP arena this meant a new ice plant, a roughly $700,000 project that will hopefully keep the facility geared towards hockey for the foreseeable future.

“The arena’s old ice plant had served its time, and what we’ve done is given it a second life with this new ice plant,” said mayor Maureen Miller on The Morning After.

“It’s wonderful that we’ll be able to continue the livelihoods of local residents that have used it for so many years now.”

This isn’t the first time the CAP’s received a facelift–in 2016 it was a finalist in the Kraft Hockeyville contest, which netted the arena $25,000 which went towards increasing accessibility and aesthetic improvements.

Meanwhile, the Clancy Richard Arena now has a glassed-in area on the second floor, which will allow fans to experience a different view of games.

The St. Paul Canadiens outlined a plan for the facility and later approached town council on July 13th with their concept, which was approved the same day.

“People are going to be able to come into this new area, enjoy a beer, or not, and see all the way through the arena,” said Miller on the new addition, which will include a glass ceiling and floor. “The Canadiens saw the vision for this facility and came up with the plan to make it happen.

“I’m anxious to see what people thing of it. It’s going to be a tremendous asset to the Clancy Richard.”

Currently the Clancy Richard is open for public use, but the CAP arena remains temporarily closed.

No word yet on when it will reopen its doors.