Construction of the long-awaited Skyway Community Centre in Burlington is set to begin.

The City of Burlington announced that contractors will begin demolition of the existing Skyway Arena early this month. Construction on the new facility will begin immediately afterwards.

The new Skyway Community Centre will have many new and upgraded features for community use, as well as key items to reduce the carbon footprint to align with the city’s climate emergency declaration and the corporate energy and emissions management plan.

“The new Skyway Community Centre will be a state of art community facility and designed to be consistent with achieving our goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions,” said Allan Magi, the city’s executive director, environment, infrastructure and community services. “The park and building will be a key feature and highlight for the City, residents and visitors.”

The project has been a long time coming. Planning and community engagement work for the community centre started in 2015, and the project kicked off in 2019 with the decommissioning of the Skyway Arena. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the work to a standstill in 2020, and the city later struggled with budget issues.

The new building is now expected to open in the second quarter of 2024.

Key features of the 47,000-square foot community centre include a professional-sized ice pad, spectator seating, change rooms, a multi-use program space, and a three-land indoor walking track.

The building has been designed to reduce annual emissions by approximately 85 percent compared to a similar building. The facility will not use gas heating. Its mechanical system will include geothermal systems, and recover heat from the refrigeration plant. The roof has been designed to support future solar panels, and the facility will use a zero-emissions electric ice-resurfacer.

“The new building will have community rooms and features the existing building did not have, and the ice surface and dressing rooms will be much improved; all of which are things we’ve heard from facility users,” said Chris Glenn, Burlington’s director of recreation, community and culture.

Skyway Park will also be renovated and expanded to accommodate the new arena.