The Plum Coulee Arena will be back in business this winter. Extensive work to repair the facility from a fire in spring 2016 forced the rink to remain closed for the 2016/17 season.

The Plum Coulee Arena and Community Hall is set to open this winter after heavily damaged the joint facility in May, 2016

Municipality of Rhineland Reeve, Don Wiebe, said crews are coming down to the details.

"The cooling units are there. They are waiting for the dehumidifier to arrive sometime in the next week."

He added the concrete floor and new puck board are installed. "It starts to look like a very impressive arena, a total upgrade."

And with some of the equipment coming from the southern United States, Wiebe admits there was some delay in arrival times because of the recent hurricanes striking the region.

As for the adjoining Plum Coulee Community Hall, which also suffered severe damage in the blaze, Wiebe said it too is starting to come together.

"It's painted, the flooring is there and now they're starting to install the kitchen equipment and bathroom equipment."

Wiebe added that ice times at the rink will be booked by November 15 and the hall will be operational by December 1. He expects the arena to be booked solid this winter with hockey teams and skating clubs from neighbouring communities using the facility for practices. Wiebe also hopes that extensive updates will create more demand for the community hall.

An updated community hall is nearly ready to open to the public. Submitted photo.