(Pontiac Arena Fund/Facebook)
The Pontiac Arena Fund’s first year was a resounding success, and hopes are high as fundraising for renovations at the Shawville rink enters year two.
Fund president Mike Rusenstorm says what started in early 2025 as conversations on the possibility of finding a way to raise $700,000 to make major upgrades to the 60-year-old arena turned into a massive push by the community, which managed to gather $235,000 by year’s end, covering over a third of the goal with a flurry of events.
Rusenstorm says that local businesses and residents have also been busy tipping the fund off to potential projects, collaborations, and grants to help bridge the gap even further, prompting them to think bigger as they make massive improvements to outdated equipment like the original ice-making plant and pipework installed back in 1965.
He adds that the need to overhaul as much of the arena as possible has increased drastically as more people are using the facility, including a major player in the local junior hockey ranks that would likely want to aid in the upkeep of their new home in Shawville.
While those talks continue, Rusenstorm says people across the MRC Pontiac and the larger Ottawa Valley can expect opportunities to help the cause in 2026, including a second pass at the Men’s Night fundraiser that kicked everything off last year.
(written by Kasey Egan)
