Skip to content

Sparwood Arena and Curling Rink receives major upgrade

The Sparwood Arena and Curling Club will soon benefit from an energy retrofit to replace an aging and inefficient heating system.
31181ferniefpSparwoodFunding
From left: Councillor Margaret McKie

After receiving $757,752 in funding from the Canadian Government’s Gas Tax Fund transfer, the Sparwood Arena and Curling Club will soon benefit from an energy retrofit to replace an aging and inefficient heating system.

The innovative project will replace six natural gas furnaces and two natural gas hot water heaters with a high efficiency heating system. The new system uses high efficiency heat pumps to capture the waste heat and distribute it to the facility.

“It’s good for Sparwood, it’s good for the Elk Valley, and it’s good as an addition to the District of Sparwood to help upgrade this building so that it will be efficient for many years to come,” said Kootenay-Columbia MP David Wilks. “Building clean energy infrastructure is an investment in the economic prosperity and long term sustainability of Sparwood.”

Wilks added, “Our government is proud to be a partner in this environmentally friendly initiative that will create jobs, strengthen the local economy, and support the growing needs of the community.”

The retrofit will also include the installation of high efficiency natural gas boilers and a solar ambient heating system. The upgrade will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the building and decrease energy consumption.

“The Arena and Curling Club retrofit is vital to helping Sparwood reach its greenhouse gas emission reduction target of two tonnes per capita by 2020,” said Sparwood Mayor Lois Halko. “This work will be a major enhancement to the operation of our facilities.”

The total cost of the project is $869,752. The District of Sparwood will fund the balance.