Southend loses only hockey rink to suspected arson

By Susan McNeil

An arena that the children of Southend relied on to play hockey has been burned in a suspected arson.

The RCMP confirmed the cause of the fire that burned the building in the northeastern Saskatchewan community on Saturday is suspicious.

The call came in at around 3:25 a.m.

While the rink was mostly used by local youth for hockey, a number of hockey tournaments had been planned for the upcoming weeks.

The building would have turned 10 years old on March 21 and was constructed in three weeks in 2014.

The 100-by-180-foot building was constructed of a metal frame covered with a heavy fabric and had foundation, boards, glass and a scoreboard inside and could accommodate an ice resurfacer.

The nearest community to skate in is La Ronge, which is 220 kilometres southwest of Southend — a 2.5-hour drive away.