What to know
- The Ted Reeve Community Arena board voted to keep ice in the main rink over the summer, potentially displacing the Toronto Beaches Lacrosse Club after nearly 30 years.
- The decision affects the club’s Minor Box and Junior teams, forcing them to consider alternative venues that may be unsuitable due to space, accessibility, and staffing issues.
- The club launched an online petition, which has garnered over 1,400 signatures, to pressure the board to reverse its decision.
- Local councillor Brad Bradford is working with the club and city staff to explore solutions, while procedural concerns from the board’s decision are under review.
A decision to keep ice in the main rink at Ted Reeve Community Arena throughout the summer has sparked backlash from the Toronto Beaches Lacrosse Club, which says the move would force it out of a facility it has called home for nearly 30 years.
The decision, made during a Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 2, will result in the displacement of the Toronto Beaches Minor Box and Junior Lacrosse teams from the arena during their summer season.
In response, the club has launched an online petition to convince the board to reverse its decision. As of publication, the petition has received more than 1,400 signatures.
“There was no community consultation on this. There’s not a lot of transparency,” said Dave Lembke, vice-president representative for box lacrosse at the club, in an interview with Now Toronto.
Lembke said the club was not only unprepared for the decision, but also caught off guard, as representatives were told by the chair of the board that a vote on ice and rink scheduling would not take place until 2026.
He added that the club faced a similar situation this past summer when ice was put back into the arena in early July, despite the club still having games scheduled until July 21.
As a result, teams were forced to play out of their practice facility, an arrangement Lembke said was unsuitable at the time and would not work as a long-term solution.
“The floor is not [up] to standard. It gets really hot in there because it’s not properly ventilated. There aren’t enough dressing rooms, there isn’t enough space for spectators, and it’s not accessible by any means,” he said.
The club is now working with board member and local councillor Brad Bradford to explore alternative solutions if the board does not reverse its decision. One option includes finding a city-run facility, though that presents its own challenges, including staffing concerns.
“City facilities usually don’t have full staff during the summer for off-hours use,” Lembke said. “They’ll have staff for camps and things like that, but after 6 p.m., when we would be using the facility, they have to deal with staffing issues and budgets.”
In a statement to Now Toronto, Bradford said the recent board meeting raised important procedural concerns that city staff are currently reviewing and investigating.
“I am continuing to work with the Board, city staff, and all our community stakeholders to try to achieve the best outcome in this situation and ensure that all user groups feel heard and respected,” the statement said.
Although the future remains uncertain, Lembke said he is hopeful that community support will encourage the board to reconsider its decision.
“We want them to reverse the decision, but we also want open dialogue,” he said. “Let’s share information, share ideas, and try to make this work for everybody, that’s what we’re hoping for.”
