A widowed mother of two teenagers summed it all up: “As a Canadian, it is our God-given right to lace on a pair of skates, pick up a stick and puck, and play hockey.”

That is why their beloved arena should not be scrapped, Darlene Burrows implored Oshawa councillors Thursday night.

“If you take Harman Park away, you take away our rights as Canadians,” she declared in a poignant and patriotic moment during a six-hour debate on its future. The aging facility within walking distance has kept her kids off the street and out of trouble, she said.

With changing demographics and municipalities struggling to keep budgets in line, minor hockey’s difficulties are nothing new. But the dilemma has crystallized in Oshawa where staff sounded the alarm over a “dramatic downturn” in the sport. The city that nurtured hockey great Bobby Orr had threatened to close Harman Park based on a consultant’s report and staff warnings about rising costs and waning interest in the junior game. Senior officials recommended closing the 43-year-old facility to save $330,000 a year in operating costs and more than $3 million for repairs and upgrades.

But with more than 150 supporters crammed into council chambers, the south-end arena narrowly dodged the wrecker’s ball in a six-to-five vote.

“Whatever we invest in that building, it will never be up to standard,” city manager Bob Duignan cautioned councillors.

But at 12:45 a.m. dozens cheered a decision that spelled victory for the country’s national sport and a building they called the “cornerstone of the community.”

As area residents — many with children in tow — waited hours to have their say, passion got the better of one parent whose outburst prompted someone to summon police. Outside, an emotional Patrick Walsh explained that his shy 12-year-old son has blossomed since picking up a hockey stick at Harman.

Built in 1969, Harman Park Arena is one of a dozen publicly operated indoor facilities. Thursday’s meeting put it at the centre of a war of numbers as each side wielded its own set of statistics and calculations.

Robert Lockhart, whose company The Rethink Group looked at arena use over five winters, concluded the city’s “oversupply” of two ice pads could be eliminated with some rejigging of users’ hours.

Demand has stalled due to a dwindling pool of youngsters, an increasingly diverse population with less interest in ice sports, and some parents’ fear of injury to their offspring, his $17,000 study showed.

While the number of kids playing hockey in Oshawa has held steady at around 2,500 for the past five years, male participation in ice sports has been steadily declining across the province, said Lockhart, a 36-year veteran of recreation and leisure services planning.

But the community argued the popularity of ice sports is not only on solid ground but growing.

Registration has grown 19 per cent in the last four years, seven per cent this year alone, countered Bob Babin, chair of NASC Hockey (Neighbourhood Association of Sports Committees). He said Oshawa has 3,445 kids registered to play hockey now compared to just over 3,300 a decade ago.

Closing Harman Park’s two ice pads would mean shutting out 1,500 kids from arena sports, he told council.

Bill Swindells, president of the Oshawa Minor Hockey Association, protested the city’s idea of reallocating ice time at other arenas. “We can’t put young children on the ice at 9 and 10 p.m.”

Tammy “The Keener” Aspeck is a coach and mother of three whose sons, 5 and 12, are playing hockey for the first time. “If it wasn’t for Harman, I wouldn’t have seen these kids grow and develop the way they are,” she said in an interview.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“The arena is obviously much-loved in the community,” said Councillor Nancy Diamond, “but the city has to deal with its financial shortfalls,” including a $123 million debt.

But Councillor Amy England tore strips off staff and the consultant, complaining there were “too many unknowns” for her to support demolition.

Staff’s figures are wrong and don’t even include the cost of tearing it down, raged Harman supporter Councillor John Neal, noting that a demolition two years ago cost $4 million.

But saying “no” to scrapping meant saying “yes to perpetual tax increases,” countered colleague Roger Bouma.

Oshawa’s dilemma is not uncommon as aging arenas across the country face an uncertain future, according to Glen McCurdie of Hockey Canada, which organizes minor hockey programs and the country’s national teams.

The shift in demographics has seen a slow erosion of male players, offset by a growth in females, the vice-president of membership services said in an interview.

Other sport enthusiasts are more direct. Emile Therien, father of former NHL defenceman Chris Therien and a longtime public health and safety advocate, pronounces hockey “dead in the water.”

Part of the blame rests with the growing fear of injuries such as concussions, he said in a phone interview from Ottawa.

“It’s going to happen all over,” he predicts about arena closings. “With the rapid decline in minor hockey registration, many of these facilities will simply shut down. Cities and towns will simply not have the resources, financially and otherwise, to keep them functioning.”

Folks in hockey towns like Oshawa might beg to differ.

Read more about: