Apr 15 2013
As residents cheered, Dean Allison, Member of Parliament for Niagara West-Glanbrook, and Bill Hodgson, Mayor of the Town of Lincoln, dug the first shovelful of soil to begin construction on the new Town of Lincoln Community Complex, a 53,000-square-foot arena, library and multi-purpose community facility.
The building will include an arena with a regulation-sized ice surface and seating for approximately 500, an approximately 9,000-square-foot library (double the size of the current branch), multi-use community rooms as well as a walking track on the second level of the arena.
"Infrastructure projects bring people together in many ways and not just via roads and sidewalks," said MP Allison, on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. "Building this new complex will create an active, social gathering place for the Lincoln community, and I am proud of the role our government is playing in its creation."
"I think the community complex is going to be an outstanding facility. This community is ready and deserving of a new library, arena and community space," said Mayor Hodgson. "Town staff, volunteers, work teams and councillors have all worked so hard for this and I am sure they are looking forward to seeing the results of their efforts. It's taken a long time to get this shovel in the ground. Away we go. "
The Government of Canada is contributing up to $5 million through the Building Canada Fund - Major Infrastructure Component for this project, while the Town of Lincoln will provide $12.5 million, for a total project cost of $17.5 million.
The Building Canada Fund - Major Infrastructure Component provides funding for major infrastructure projects that contribute, among other things, to cultural, economic, community recreation and tourism development.
Canada's Economic Action Plan 2013 is delivering a New Building Canada Plan to build roads, bridges, subways, commuter rail, and other public infrastructure in cooperation with provinces, territories, and municipalities. Thanks to the Government of Canada's leadership and our strong economic and financial fundamentals, the Canadian economy has recovered from the global recession better than most other industrialized countries. Canada has been a leader among G-7 countries throughout the recovery with more than 898,000 net new jobs created since July 2009. The New Building Canada Plan, combined with other federal infrastructure investments, supports Canada's infrastructure advantage, a key enabler of economic growth and job creation.