Donations have been steady but the effort to save the Trinity Placentia Stadium in Whitbourne is slowly progressing.
Since the stadium commission released a letter on March 10 calling for public donations to help cover the $55,000 needed to save the rink, the group has raised about $40,000.
The money will be used to get the stadium ready for the start of the next winter season and help with infrastructure and staffing payments.
It is encouraging news for Trintiy Placenita Stadium commission chairman Greg Smith.
“The support we’ve received is great,” he said. “We’re well on our way."
The stadium serves communities from Chance Cove to Heart’s Delight-Islington and some of those communities have been helping in any way they can.
The Town of Norman’s Cove-Long Cove has pledged $7,500, while the town’s sports and recreation group have donated another $1,000. The Town of Long Harbour recently donated $12,000 to the fund.
“I think they will come out on the better side of this,” said Whitbourne Mayor Hilda Whelan. “I plan to help where I can.”
She added Whitbourne plans to follow suit as other towns have and donate to the stadium.
Businesses and residents from around the region have also been chipping in where they can to help.
Some have suggested a Chase the Ace fundraiser might be a solution once the COVID-19 prevention measures have subsided.
“We have the parking there and it might set the commission up for the next couple of years,” said Whelan.
The commission already has a number of ideas, things like ball hockey and a farmers' market, that could help keep them afloat if they are able to raise the $55,000 required.
Before the commission released the letter, Smith said they held a meeting with the mayors of the towns in the region and laid out their concerns. As a result, the towns agreed to build in stadium funding into their operational budgets going forward.
The stadium has served the Whitbourne region — and parts of the Placentia area before their stadium was built — since 1976 and is an important part of the community’s identity.
“We will do everything and anything we can to save the stadium,” said Whelan.