DRYDEN – For the last 25 years, the Dryden Ice Dogs has been a larger draw for the city as people from all around Northwestern Ontario come to see the teams take on foes in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.
“The team has a proven track record as an economic driver in the city and the region as well as being a reliable customer and tenant of the arena in the city,” said president Mike Sveinson during his presentation to council on July 24, where he asked council to support a $200,000 locker room expansion for the team.
Sveinson said they have one of the smallest rooms among all SIJHL teams.
The expansion would improve many upgrades to the 200-square-foot locker room the Ice Dogs currently occupy, which would include a new team showering facility. Their current situation becomes easily full where players would need to find an alternative locker room to shower.
Sveinson said the Ice Dogs locker room is situated near the lobby of the arena and “there's a large crowd for the Ice Dogs that sometimes has a player walking from our room to the shower in various stages of undress.”
Player privacy has been a site of concern for Sveinson, stating that it was a major reason for his advocacy for the expansion. This would also include an expansion to the medical room to provide players with additional privacy when being treated for an injury.
The current tight locker room space restricts play from being treated in the room.
"The trainer's table is literally in the hallway of the upper mezzanine of the arena,” Sveinson said.
“Occasionally, you get serious injuries at games and it's a difficult situation when you have guys that close to fans or the public and they're in some form of distress.”
The expansion to the Ice Dogs locker room will provide the players with a shared space, with Sveinson suggesting the current space feels “isolated.”
Players are separated into confining areas removing them from strategy sessions with coaches and unifying with other players.
“These guys are half involved and half not, it's isolating for them and they need to have a space where they can all be together in the same room,” said Sveinson.
Sveinson recommended the city look into applying for funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, which would support up to 75 per cent of the project. The other 25 per cent would be part of the capital budget because the renovation is over $25,000, according to treasurer Steven Lansdell-Roll.
Council recognized the need for expanding the Ice Dog locker room and offered their full support to see what they could do to get the project funded through the NOHFC and municipal streams.
“I think we have a consensus here that we want to explore moving forward. I think that financial arrangement like you mentioned one funding agency, but there may be different ones that we would look into from a city point of view,” said Mayor Jack Harrison.
Coun. Michelle Price suggests staff should look into the municipal accommodation tax to potentially help fund the project.
“It's more to do with tourism but sometimes you can look at definitely the Ice Dogs as a tourist attraction because a lot of times you're seeing all of those parents from those players coming in, staying in, in the hotels,” said Price.
When asked what Sveinson’s timeline for the project is, he suggests the ideal time to get the project started would be in the off-season during the spring and summer months.
