Arena Usage Report Clarified: Prime Time Ice Not Being Used

Following the Municipality’s report stating Arena Usage is down, and dwindling in Chatham-Kent, residents raised questions.

The main one being, was it day time hours not being used, or coveted prime time slots, which are typically used by minor sports organizations. Many involved in minor sports stated that prime time ice is hard to come by in Chatham-Kent.

According to documents received by the Chatham-Kent Sports Network, this assertion is wrong. In fact, prime time hours (4pm-11pm Monday through Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday) were being left unused at larger rates than many predicted.

Bothwell again led the way, with a staggering 62% of all prime time hours going unused, and 73% of all available hours unused. Bothwell also had an astounding 94% vacancy during daytime hours.

Wheatley followed next with 47% of prime time hours being left unused and 52% of all available hours unused.

Ridgetown was third in open hours, with 34% of prime time hours left unused and 48% overall.

The most used prime time arena in Chatham-Kent was Thames Campus, leaving only 19% of available hours unused, followed closely by Erickson Arena, Memorial Arena, and Tilbury Arena, who used 79% of all available prime time ice (21% unused).

Wallaceburg and Blenheim had 23% of prime time ice available, while Dresden had 29% of prime time ice sit vacant.

Across the board, only 2-3% of prime time usage came from Municipal programming, while the remainder was rentals by groups and organizations. Most Municipal programming came during day time ice.

Editors Note: Several arenas in Chatham-Kent are closed multiple days of the week until late afternoon, which is not factored into daytime percentages as these hours are not available for rental.