The Town of Assiniboia got another boost, as, through the town office, they received 450,000 dollars in funding from the Federal Gas Tax Fund to help build their new skating rink civic centre.

The Gas Tax Fund is "a long-term, indexed source of funding that supports local infrastructure projects across the province each year." The Town Office applied for it this year, giving a much-needed boost for the rink.

The Town Office has a commitment of $1.1 million to the construction, and the $450,000 they received from the fund is a part of that commitment.

"It's not just an Assiniboia project, its the whole area," explained Curtis Nelson, President of the Civic Improvement Association. "A lot of the RM's, surrounding area, use this rink as their main rink or their kids end up playing here too so, it's not just an Assiniboia project but it's more of a regional project for our area."

The Civic Improvement Association is spearheading this project, and in the past five years, local business, residents, people living in the area, and the Town Office has raised $5 million for a new civic centre, getting them that much closer to the budgeted $7-10 million price tag of the rink.

The Assiniboia Civic Centre was built back in 1956, and now that it requires constant upkeep, they are pushing for the construction of a new one.

"It's been a great outcrying from everyone, everybody has been really positive about it and everybody realizes the current facility one day could burn down or it basically is not satisfactory," Nelson added. "So, everybody is really pushing to get this new rink up and going as soon as we can."

Nelson said that their new Civic Centre would not only include a new rink, but a seating area so people can view the games, a walking track, a racquetball court, and larger and more change rooms.