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Englefeld Arena social room receiving renovations

ENGLEFELD — Currently being used as a space for the Englefeld Preschool, the Englefeld Arena’s social room is receiving a completely new redesign using funds from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.
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the Englefeld Arena’s social room is receiving a completely new redesign using funds from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. Photo by Village of Englefeld

ENGLEFELD — Currently being used as a space for the Englefeld Preschool, the Englefeld Arena’s social room is receiving a completely new redesign using funds from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

Lani Rae Best, Englefeld’s administrator mentor, said they’ll be taking the room “right back to the boards and building it again.”

“We’re going to gut that entire space and redo it entirely,” Best said. “There’s two washrooms and a small wet bar kitchen area. We’re going to replace all that, reinsulate, make sure there’s no mold, get it cleaned up and then we’ll have an area that’s usable again.”

Additional features are planned to include better storage, removal of all porous surfaces for ease with cleaning, and new insulation on the windows.

The social room hasn’t received any upgrades in the last 50 years.

Best said deteriorated insulation has resulted in the preschool needing to use a space heater.

“The windows to the ice surface leak so there’s always cold air coming in, and they’re having to use a space heater to keep it warm enough for them. So this will eliminate that.”

No downtime is expected for the pre-school, with renovations planned to take place over the summer months.

Through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, the Government of Canada is investing $82,600 into the renovations, the province is investing about $68,800, and the Village of Englefeld will be responsible for covering around $55,000.

“Honestly, I think the biggest thing is it’s all going to be new, clean, fresh,” Best said.

“With COVID hitting our lives so hard, one of the hardest things is making sure you can sanitize well enough. So by getting rid of porous surfaces and making it very cleanable, you can go in with one of those foggers and sanitize everything inside the room quickly. Especially where that’s where our children go it’s important to keep it clean and healthy.”