CORNWALL, Ontario – City of Cornwall staff have begun replacing the nearly 5,000 seats in the Ed Lumley Arena a the Cornwall Civic Complex.
Most of the seats had been in the arena since it was built in 1976, with Parks and Recreation General Manager Jamie Fawthrop telling Cornwall City Council in Feb. 2020 that the cushioning in the seats had literally been reduced to dust, leaving some patrons sitting directly on the metal springs in the seating pan.
The total cost of the project was estimated at $305,000 and was added to the municipal budget in 2020.
READ MORE: New Complex seat cushions to cost $305,000
Despite the price tag, councillors welcomed the idea of replacing the ancient seats.
“I’ve heard people say that they won’t go to anything in the Complex because they don’t want to sit in the insert expletive here, seats,” he said.
“I watched three hours of curling, but I sat for 15 minutes because that’s all I could take,” added Councillor Glen Grant.
Fawthrop hoped that the replacement would be one step in giving the arena new life.
“This is one of the things that can be done to revive the building, but money will need to be spent in order to do that,” Fawthrop said.
The City of Cornwall provided an update on Thursday, Jan. 21 of the work to replace the seating at the arena on their social media.
⭐ behind the scenes ⭐
Over the past few months, the Civic Complex’s arena seating has been replaced, one seat at a time. Here’s a look at the work being done by a dedicated crew of staff.
We can’t wait to have you back in the arena when it’s safe.#CornwallON pic.twitter.com/BHgRz6n7Uo— City of Cornwall (@CityofCornwall) January 21, 2021
