The Antigonish Arena Story

The Antigonish Arena is a non-profit organization owned by Town and the County of Antigonish. We have been serving the community since 1969. Our arena is one of the busiest arenas in the Province of Nova Scotia. We are the home of the Junior "B" Bulldogs, 4 Gentlemen's League teams, 4 Senior League teams, 450 young people enrolled in Minor Hockey, Seniors, Adult and Tots Skating, Spring and Fall Hockey Schools. We are members of the Recreation Facility Association of Nova Scotia . You can visit the web site at www.rfans.com . We expanded our Hospitality room . These heated rooms have a great view of the ice . Our Hospitality Rooms , Board Room and Lobby have wireless internet service . We have 2 AED ( Auto External Defibulator ) at the Arena now for public safety .

• The Antigonish Arena is located at 30 James Street, seconds from the Trans Canada Highway . We are less than a 2 hour drive from the Halifax International Airport and less than a 2 hour drive from the airport in Sydney. See directions at www.arenamaps.com/arenas/3807.htm
• The ice surface is the same as NHL surfaces, 85 feet by 200 feet. We replaced our Floor , Boards and Glass during the Summer of 2015 at a cost of $ 1.2 Million Dollars . Thanks goes to our major funding partners , the Town of Antigonish , the Municipality of the County of Antigonish , ACOA and Antigonish Minor Hockey . Now with the new heated floor we COULD have ice 12 months per year .
• Our total occupancy for hockey games is 2290
• We are the home of 4 Senior Hockey teams .
• The Arena is now over 50 years old
• We have 1 ice surface
• A yearly maintenance and equipment replacement program is in place for a facility this age
• We have 1 Junior Bulldog, 1 Referee and 6 other dressing rooms
• Contact us if you would like to advertise is the arena , we have excellent rates and locations
• An Ammonia/Brine refrigeration system is used at the Antigonish Arena by pumping 2000 gallons of brine through 2 miles of plastic pipe in the 5 inch cement floor
• It takes 9 minutes to resurface the ice with a propane powered Zamboni
• 70 gallons of 170 degree F water is used every time the ice is resurfaced
• The ice is resurfaced an average of 13 times per day
• Our new propane powered 2014 Zamboni cost $103,260.00
• We installed a new Ceiling , Heat Recovery and new Ice Lights with the IREP program
• We installed a new Roof and a new Boiler in 2013
• We installed a new floor , boards , glass and seasonal plant controller in 2015 for $ 1.2 million
• Our electric bill is $ 88,000.00 per year
• We have 4 authentic Maple Leaf Garden seats in our arena. After 68 years at Maple Leaf Gardens the Toronto Maple Leafs played their final game at the Gardens on February 13, 1999
  On August 20 , 2008 we had over 10,000 fans come to have their picture taken with the Stanley Cup and Ass-Coach of the Detroit Red Wings , Paul MacLean
  August , 2010 Ass-General Manager of the Chicago Black Hawks , Al MacIsaac took the Stanley cup to Antigonish
  November , 2010 Player Scout of the Chicago Black Hawks , Dennis Bonvie took the Stanley Cup to Antigonish
  September , 2013 Ass-General Manager of the Chicago Black Hawks , Al MacIsaac took the Stanley Cup to Antigonish