Governments Invest in Trenton Minor Sports Community Centre

New equipment for Trenton's popular arena will help residents, skaters and hockey players live healthy, active lives, thanks to investments by the provincial and federal governments.

The $338,425 investment will help the Trenton Minor Sports Community Centre with the more than $550,000 cost of replacing aging ice-making equipment. The project will also stimulate the local economy and help protect the environment.

"I am pleased to be able to support the Trenton rink," said Premier Rodney MacDonald today, April 1, while speaking to the Pictou County Chamber of Commerce. "This facility helps Nova Scotians get and stay active, and it will help protect the environment, two of government's priorities."

Improvements will include several energy-efficiency upgrades. The new refrigeration plant will use heat expelled during the ice-making process in the arena's dressing rooms and spectator area. An infrared sensor will shut off the refrigeration plant when the ice surface reaches the proper temperature.

The project is expected to cut 565 tonnes of greenhouse gases and more than 2,000 kilograms of air pollutant emissions per year, the equivalent of taking 126 cars off Nova Scotia roads. The province's Climate Change Action Plan, released in January, commits to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by five megatonnes by 2020.

Of the government investment, $173,000 comes from the province's Building Facilities Infrastructure Together (B-FIT) program. Under B-FIT, the province has committed more than $55 million to 30 infrastructure projects, generating $165 million worth of construction.

The remaining $165,425 comes from ecoNova Scotia for Clean Air and Climate Change, a $42.5-million program designed to support projects that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollutants. The fund was created with financial resources from the government of Canada and is managed by the province.

The announcement is part of Nova Scotia's Building for Growth infrastructure strategy. The program is designed to stimulate the economy by creating a demand for goods and services and creating jobs.