Anticipation for a new arena is building in Assiniboia. 

The Civic Improvement Association (CIA) in the community of 2,389 (as of the 2016 Census) has been raising money for several years in an attempt to build a new facility to replace the aging Assiniboia Civic Centre, which was built in 1956. 

"We've raised about $4.2 million in four years and the project is budgeted to be just under $8 million to build," explained CIA President Curtis Nelson, who says the new arena will be worth the wait. 

"It'll house about a thousand people," he stated. "It will have a walking track and will be a state-of-the-art facility for the size of community we're in.  We've got a unique design..we've taken the best of a lot of different facilities we've looked at."

Nelson said the community has been very generous in their support, noting that they have not received any government funding for the project.  Much of the money has come from an annual sports dinner (the most recent of which a few weeks ago raised about $180,000) and the annual Spring Fever Lotto.  Ticket sales continue for the lotto for a few more weeks, with the grand prize of $150,000 being drawn for May 28. Nelson says the lotto typically sells out, and if that happens again they'll be in good shape for construction. 

"If that (lottery) goes well we'll get shovels in the ground this spring. The contractor says we're looking at about a year and a half to two -year build."