Cumberland Offers Boost to Oxford Arena
The Municipality of Cumberland is contributing to the security and future of the Oxford Arena.
Cumberland contributed $20 thousand to the cause and Mayor Murray Scott said, “It’s in the Town of Oxford, but it supports every one of us.”
The County Mayor congratulated the community committee that stepped in to keep the facility alive through tough times during the pandemic.
“Whether it’s Oxford, Amherst or any other part of Cumberland County we have to support each other,” Scott said. “We’re all neighbours and our council is pleased to able to support the committee.”
The arena is not only frequented by the townspeople, but by many who live in the surrounding area.
The committee’s Jordan Burkhardt says, “This is a foundation for helping us to continue offering services to the whole area.” He added, “The arena is always going to be an arena, but what we’re trying to do is to make the building more inclusive so we can do a lot more things. A lot more programs and a lot more usability for the entire community.”
With the uncertainties swirling around COVID, Oxford Town Council voted to close the arena in 2020-21. A citizens’ committee emerged with an offer to run the arena as volunteers. The struck an agreement with the town early in 2021 and have been busy repairing, improving, and operating the facility ever since.
The Province provided a timely, one-time grant that was a welcome boost and allowed a flurry of recent activity to improve efficiency and offer more to the community.
Burkhardt hopes the stage is now set for the arena to thrive. He says, “We’ve made progress, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. We want to make this as efficient an operation as possible. When we do something we aim to do something more than patchwork. We want it to have a long-term future.”
Work has also continued on the dressing rooms, the bathrooms, and the canteen, including new equipment. A new ticket booth has also been constructed allowing for easier access.
Burkhardt says, “We want people to walk through here and take pride in what we have in this community. And when I say community, I say Cumberland County.”
The photo shows Jordan Burkhardt of the Oxford arena committee (left) accepting the $20,000 cheque from Cumberland Mayor Murray Scott. Photo courtesy of Darrell Cole.
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