The future of Kopar Memorial remains in question

“For me, it boiled down to two questions. Could we refurbish this building? Could we keep it as an ice arena or maybe repurpose it for something else? And then the other question that really staff are looking at is, should we?” Beesley said. “And I think ultimately that’s the question the council and the public are going to have to answer.”

From a purely technical standpoint, Beesley acknowledged that refurbishment is possible—but not necessarily practical or advisable.

“We could fix it up. The money can do anything,” he said. “But, as one of our staff said today, the analogy is like an antique car. It’s an ancient old car. You can refurbish it, you can make it look really cool, you can add things onto it, but it’s still an ancient old car. Is that the right thing to do? Or would it be better to say it’s been nice, but now it’s time for something brand new?”

The Kopar Memorial Arena has served generations of Prince George residents and sports fans, making the decision particularly emotional for many. Beesley himself noted the deep personal and community ties to the facility.

“It’s a fantastic old building. It’s a great old barn,” he said. “I was a season ticket holder with the first Kings for a quarter century. My son played for the Spruce Kings. We grew up using this building and our kids grew up here.”

Despite that sentimental attachment, Beesley made clear that operational challenges and costs weigh heavily on the decision.

“It’s no different from an old house,” he added. “Do we keep fixing it up, or at what point do we say it’s a nice old house, but we’re going to have to say goodbye and move on to something a little more modern?”

Those questions are expected to be addressed in part through a forthcoming report that will evaluate all civic facilities in Prince George. That report, expected later this year, will assess building conditions and help prioritize investments in renovations, replacements, or potential decommissioning.

“That report will rank all of our facilities and give everybody a good example of what is in good condition and what needs to maybe be disbanded or what sorts of buildings should we refurbish,” Beesley explained. “We’re going to try and help council out with those decisions.”

The Kopar Memorial discussion also ties into the city’s broader Civic Core plan, which could include a new arena, a performing arts centre, and mixed-use cultural space as part of downtown revitalization efforts.

“All these things are going to come to a head to make some decisions,” Beesley said.

While city administration weighs its options, one of the arena’s key tenants has raised urgent concerns about the facility’s current condition.

Mike Hawes, General Manager of the Prince George Spruce Kings, described the building as falling behind modern safety and league standards.

“It’s the most unsafe facility in the BCHL,” Hawes said. “We have more concussions occur in games in this facility in our league than any other building, because the boards are as hard as rocks.”

According to Hawes, the arena does not meet multiple requirements set by the British Columbia Hockey League. These include newer board systems with built-in flexibility, standard rink dimensions, and upgraded video and scoreboard capabilities.

“The rink is not standard size. It’s only 190 feet. They need to be 200,” he said. “We don’t have video replay, we don’t have a score clock with video ability—there are many standards we’re not meeting.”

Beyond safety and compliance issues, Hawes also pointed to aging infrastructure that could pose an immediate risk to operations. In particular, the brine refrigeration lines beneath the ice are original to the building and extremely difficult to repair.

“If we had a major brine leak and had to shut the building down, that would be the end of the Spruce Kings,” he said.

Hawes added that even a temporary shutdown for renovations could have permanent consequences for the team.

“If they decided to refurbish and this building was down for a year or longer, that’d be the end,” he said. “We’d have nowhere to play. The league isn’t going to wait for us for a year and then bring us back.”

For the Spruce Kings, the preferred solution is clear: a new, modern facility.

“Ideal would be a brand new 2,500-seat facility in the downtown,” Hawes said. “We want to be part of the downtown revitalization. We think a new facility would help with that, and we’d love to be a big part of it.”

Not everyone, however, supports the idea of replacing Kopar Memorial entirely.

Local resident James Steidle argued the building could still serve a purpose, even if it is no longer used as the city’s primary ice arena.

“I don’t know if that necessarily means we need to tear down the Kopar Memorial Arena,” he said. “I think that’s a good building that could be used for other things, even if it’s not an ice rink.”

Steidle pointed to the historical and financial value represented by older structures.

“I think we’ve torn down a lot of good buildings worth hundreds of millions of dollars in today’s money,” he added.

As Prince George weighs its options, the future of Kopar Memorial Arena remains uncertain—but the conversation is intensifying.

With reports on civic infrastructure pending and broader plans for downtown development underway, city council is expected to face a defining decision: preserve and repurpose a piece of local history, or embrace a new era with modern facilities designed to meet current standards and future needs.

For now, the iconic arena stands as both a symbol of the past and a focal point for the city’s next chapter.

by Cheryl Jahn

The future of Kopar Memorial remains in question

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