Earlier this year, crews broke up the old concrete floor at the Archie Browning Sports Centre and found it didn't match the plans. Parts of the perimeter slab weren't there. A drainage trench on the west side of the arena appeared on the 1980s construction drawings, but nobody had ever built it. That's how the Times Colonist reported it in July, citing township facilities manager Dan Henderson.
The arena was supposed to be finished by the end of July. The Township now expects to finish by the end of November 2026, with skating programs back in early December. Most of what makes up an Esquimalt winter, including public skating, junior hockey, the Celebration of Lights and the pool, now restarts inside the same short stretch of December. The weeks before that are thinner than usual.
Why a floor took four extra months
Archie Browning opened in 1961, and the Times Colonist calls it the oldest arena on Vancouver Island. The arena slab was last replaced in the mid-1980s. Council voted in 2007 to close the building for demolition, then reversed that decision after a public backlash.
This year's work covers far more than a fresh pour. The Township's original announcement in June 2025 listed the floor, the in-floor refrigeration and brine systems, the dasher boards and glass, the safety netting and the player and penalty benches. The plan was to reuse parts of the old perimeter slab. Once those parts turned out to be missing, that plan was gone. The Township's project page puts the delay down to 1980s drawings with incomplete structural information, "the details of which were not possible to know until demolition began on the old slab."
The Times Colonist puts the project at $2.6 million. Local contractor Blackrete Builders Inc. won the job with the lowest of three bids, at just under $2.2 million. The Township also says the new slab comes with heat recovery systems that will cut the arena's greenhouse gas emissions. That makes it more than a like-for-like repair on a 65-year-old building.
Where the arena's users went
Archie Browning is busy all year. The Township's own list of users includes hockey, speed skating, figure skating, curling, lacrosse, ball hockey and roller derby. The building holds a 2,000-person arena and the Esquimalt Curling Club. In a normal year, arena programs run from August to March. Pushing the finish date from summer to late November took nearly all of that fall season with it.
Two moves are easy to follow:
- Eves of Destruction, the roller derby league that uses the arena from April to August, moved its home games to the Victoria Curling Club.
- The Victoria Cougars, the defending VIJHL champions, had to start their season somewhere else.
In August, the Times Colonist described the Cougars' early season under new coach Craig Didmon as "nomadic." The plan was four home games at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, two at SeaParc Arena in Sooke and one at the Naden rink, then a move back to Archie Browning. The one game that stayed in Esquimalt was played on September 6 at Wurtele Arena, the full-size rink at 737 Admirals Road on CFB Esquimalt. The Cougars beat Kerry Park 5-0.
November is when this shows most. On the VIJHL schedule, the Cougars have one home game all month. It's on Remembrance Day, Wednesday, November 11, at 1:30 p.m. against Westshore, and it's at SeaParc in Sooke. Every other November game is on the road, at Panorama, Kerry Park, Campbell River and Oceanside.
November in Esquimalt runs through the Rec Centre
With no ice, the Esquimalt Recreation Centre at 527 Fraser Street carries the township's indoor calendar for the month.
The Esquimalt Farmers Market moved inside for the season. It runs Thursdays from 4:30 to 7 p.m., and this post goes up on one of those Thursdays. The Township lists produce, baked goods, mushrooms, meats, preserves and local artisans and makers. Market nights left in November are November 5, 12, 19 and 26.
The month gets tighter on Sunday, November 22. That's when the pool at the Rec Centre closes for its annual maintenance shutdown. It stays closed through December 13 and reopens at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, December 14. So for the last week of November, the township has no ice and no pool at the same time. The pool closure is routine and happens every year. This year it just happens to overlap with the arena's last stretch of construction.
The December stretch, day by day
Once the arena is done, things move quickly. Here's how the current calendars line up:
| Date | What's scheduled | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Dec 3 | Indoor farmers market, 4:30–7 p.m.; Cougars vs. Nanaimo, 7 p.m. | Rec Centre; Archie Browning |
| Early December | Skating programs, including drop-ins, resume | Archie Browning |
| Sunday, Dec 6 | Esquimalt Celebration of Lights, 5 p.m. | Venue to be announced |
| Thursday, Dec 10 | Market; Cougars vs. Port Alberni, 7 p.m. | Rec Centre; Archie Browning |
| Sunday, Dec 13 | Cougars vs. Oceanside, 3:30 p.m. | Archie Browning |
| Monday, Dec 14 | Pool reopens, 5:30 a.m. | Rec Centre |
| Thursday, Dec 17 | Last indoor market of the season; Cougars vs. Comox Valley, 7 p.m. | Rec Centre; Archie Browning |
| Sunday, Dec 20 | Cougars vs. Kerry Park, 3:30 p.m. | Archie Browning |
That's five Cougars home games at Archie Browning in 18 days, after a fall with one game in Esquimalt. The Dec 3 game against Nanaimo is the closest thing the schedule has to a reopening date. The Township hasn't announced a ribbon-cutting. The ice-time target is "early December," and the completion date has already moved once, from summer to the end of November. So it's worth checking the Township's arena page before planning around Dec 3.
Why the arena's timing matters for the Celebration of Lights
The Esquimalt Celebration of Lights is set for Sunday, December 6 at 5 p.m. The organizers promise lights, live music, candlelight carols, Santa Claus and a community light-up parade, with more details still to come. The event began in December 2006. It was developed with Esquimalt Neighbourhood House, the Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce, Country Grocer and the Esquimalt Lions Club.
In 2025, the Township's event listing put the performances inside Archie Browning starting at 3 p.m. The parade started on Admirals Road and ended at Lampson Street. The 2026 venue and route haven't been posted. If the event uses the same building again, it lands about a week after the arena's target finish date. That's the main reason the end-of-November date matters to people who never skate.
What changes after this winter
Once this stretch is over, the township has a renewed arena floor with new refrigeration, boards and glass under a building that opened in 1961. Arena programs normally run August to March, and the dry floor is open April to July for bookings, camps and lacrosse. So next fall should be the first full ice season on the new slab. Skating programs would be back in the building in August, and the Cougars would start the season at home instead of in Sooke and downtown Victoria.
For the next few weeks, the key dates are November 22 for the pool, the end of November for the arena, and December 3 for the first game back.
If you're an Esquimalt homeowner and the arena's return has you thinking about how your street fits your weekly routine, from Thursday markets on Fraser Street to game nights at Archie Browning, Kash Burley would be glad to talk it through with you, and to give you a clear read on what your home is worth this winter. Get your free home valuation whenever you're ready.
