From Alberta Information Bulletin September 29, 2011
Municipal awards celebrate 10th anniversary
Calgary... The first synthetic ice rink in Canada, and the first NHL-sized synthetic ice arena in North America, earned the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo the Outstanding Achievement Award in the 2011 Minister of Municipal Affairs’ Awards of Excellence.
The awards acknowledge the efforts of local governments in Alberta. Municipalities are encouraged to share their leading practices with their peers as a way to learn from each other as they improve services for residents.
"I am very proud that we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of this wonderful recognition program," said Municipal Affairs Minister Hector Goudreau. During the past decade the Municipal Excellence Network resource library has accumulated more than 600 municipal best practices, bylaws and policies as a result of the program.
"This kind of co-operation and collaboration is essential to the continued success and future sustainability of all communities," said Goudreau. "While we are focused on providing Albertans with reliable and responsive municipal services, we also need to stand back and celebrate our successes. That’s what this is about. These awards celebrate the excellent work being done in Alberta municipalities."
Located in the Wood Buffalo hamlet of Fort Chipewyan, the Archie Simpson Arena is made with a specially engineered polymer coated with a lubricant on a regular basis to keep it slippery during summer months. It is converted faster and easier to a natural frozen ice surface during the winter months as less water and time are required to achieve the necessary thickness.
In addition to the Outstanding Achievement Award, other awards were presented for Innovation, Partnership, Safe Communities and for Smaller Municipalities.