Deal reached to save Weston Lions Arena, while also incorporating new MLSE launch pad

CP24’s Phil Perkins speaks to Lucas Miller about his work helping the arena reach a deal with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the City of Toronto.

The ice at Weston Lions Recreation Arena, a staple of the tight-knit west Toronto community for more than 70 years, will not go quiet.

“I think the future of hockey really needed this in the city of Toronto,” said Lesley Bannard, the president of Weston Minor Hockey League (WMHL).

CTV News Toronto first spoke with Bannard last June when her organization was told they’d need to find a new home for the 2025-26 season.

“We just want a chance, a chance to survive,” she said at that time.

After CTV News Toronto’s report aired, the league was granted one more season inside its 76-year-old home rink, which is located at 2125 Lawrence Ave. W. and needs million of dollars of repairs.

Long battle save Weston arena

That final season, however, has been the subject of a fierce political fight within the Weston community.

Last April, the City of Toronto entered into a leasing agreement with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) to turn Weston Lions Arena into a launch pad, a facility that would be similar to MLSE’s other location on Jarvis Street, which has a large assortment of free community programming.

Weston Minor Hockey League was told the renovated facility would not include ice.

‘We could have always had both’

Bannard says the past year has “been so divisive politically in this neighbourhood.”

“The, you know, ‘I’m for the arena or I’m for launch pad.’ You know, nobody really understood that there’s a true middle here. We could have always had both,” she said.

Having both has now come about thanks to a new partnership between the City of Toronto, MLSE, and the province.

Community ‘really wanted this rink to stay’

Lucas Miller runs hockey schools out of Weston arena and has been fighting for the rink’s survival.

“I just think the community, the hockey community came together, and they really wanted this rink to stay,” he said.

Miller set up a petition and advocated all the way up to Premier Doug Ford, who met with Miller and Lions Club chair Sandy Ross last month.

After that meeting, Miller says things started moving faster.

“(I) can’t thank Mr. Premier for it enough. I think he was a big factor in this,” he said.

On Monday, CTV News Toronto received a written statement from MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley confirming the change of plans.

“The aim of this expanded partnership is to preserve the ice rink as a focal part of the arena, while supporting the revitalization of the facility and delivering life-changing programming to benefit the community,” it said in part.

Local councillor Francis Nunziata, who has fiercely advocated for the launch pad, also confirmed Weston Lions Arena will have both an ice surface and a community centre.

“A revitalized Weston Lions Arena will feature a new ice pad and full sports-based program that will be built adjacent to the arena to serve the local community first, while protecting the arena’s heritage features,” she said in a statement.

‘Everyone’s working collaboratively together’: Ford

When asked about the new direction for the site on Monday, Ford would not say how much money the province will kick in to make it happen.

“Everyone’s working collaboratively together. (This is) another example of when you work together, folks, things get done,” he said following an unrelated news conference on Monday.

Beaches-East York Coun. Brad Bradford was one of only two councillors who voted against the MLSE agreement.

He says that ability to have both the arena and community centre is important, adding that this fight was not necessary.

“Effectively, Coun. Nunziata and Mayor Chow had brought something forward that ended up pitting different community groups against each other,” he said, adding “Weston is a community with a lot of passion.”

“And you had hockey groups, at odds with other members of the community, and it just never needed to be that way,” Bradford said.

Weston Lions Arena has a long history

Weston Lions Arena has a rich history.

Built in 1949, it is one of the few rinks that still uses sand underneath the ice. It has been featured in commercials and movies, like “Score: A hockey musical.”

The arena is also known for the French fries sold at its snack bar.

Every year, Weston Lions uses the profits from the fries to donate more than $20 thousand to the local food bank. It also uses those funds to help outfit kids with equipment in its learn-to-play program called “Small Fries.”

Bannard, of WMHL, says the battle built to a moment of relief when they learned that the arena may be saved.

“When we first started hearing the rumblings of the news breaking, the head of the food bank, you know, the Weston Food Bank came into the rink ... She just walked into the office and gave me a huge hug and I think that said everything,” she said.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment says it will release a design sometime in the second quarter of this year.