History
In 1973, a committee formed by Pierre LaRoche, Etienne Dubois and Gérald Chouinard organized to build an arena. Gérald and Monique Chouinard donated land for this project to the municipality of De Salaberry. That same year, construction was underway with Arthur Tétrault in charge of the workers.
In 1974 a new committee was created:
- Raymond Marion - President
- Lorette Courcelles
- Marcel Collette
- Gilles Lafantaisie
- Rita Coulombe
- Etienne Dubois
- Henri Coulombe
- Dennis Janze
- Claudette Rémillard
Fundraising efforts were ongoing and grants were being applied for and received. Organized activities such as "Turkey Shoots", dances, auctions, dinners, ball tournaments and ice racing all helped with the fundraising efforts.
By the 1974/75 season, the arena opened its doors for the first time to a variety of sports: hockey, figure skating, pleasure skating, skate-a-thon, curling and ringettes.
In the following years, the arena was enlarged to make room for a tractor, a zamboni attachment, and also additional dressing rooms and bathrooms.
In 1982, artificial ice was made a reality (to the great joy of the hockey players of the day) large in part due to a subcommittee, Edmond Roch, Brian Copple, Pierre LaRoche and Raynald Bertrand, tasked with studying the viability of artificial ice.
Then in 1987 a cement floor was installed to allow for year round use of the arena for events such as Summer festivals, socials, floor hockey, roller hockey and summer hockey camps on "synthetic" ice.
In 2019, the operation of the arena was transferred to the Rural Municipality of De Salaberry.
An upgrade to the ice plant, addition of dehumidifiers and heat exchange units in 2022 have added to the continued enjoyment of the arena and will allow for the ice season to be extended in fall and spring.