The City of Kamloops has found a work-around to deal with a scheduling conflict which had threatened to scuttle a pair of major events at the arena at McArthur Island this coming Spring.

With Kamloops hosting the Memorial Cup in May, city officials have decided to keep the ice on the surface at Mac Island to use as a practice facility for the Canadian Hockey League.

That meant that planned events before the Memorial Cup, including the annual gun show and home show, wouldn’t have been able to use the facility, potentially scrubbing their events.

However, City Facilities Manager Sean Smith tells NL News they’ve now been able to come up with a solution.

“We are going to put together a dry floor to put down on the NHL ice that will suit the needs for both the B.C. Home Show and the Gun and Antique show in April,” Smith said on NL Newsday.

Smith says the covering they intend to use is the one at the Sandman Centre, though he noted the City is also looking at a buying a used one that has come up for sale in the Okanagan.

Gun and Antique Show and Sale Event Chairman, Don Morphy, tells NL News, he is very happy that the city has found a workaround.

“We missing a couple of years because of COVID and then we got one this year, and then it looked like we weren’t going to get one next year, and that would be just devastating, but I think we’ve got it fixed now,” Morphy said.

The B.C. Home Show is scheduled for Apr. 15 and 16, 2023, with the Gun and Antique Show and Sale scheduled for the following weekend, Apr, 22 and 23, 2023.

More to come

– With files from Brett Mineer and Paul James