Nustadia Recreation Inc. (Nustadia ) worked with Membertou First Nation, an urban and progressive Mi’kmaq community located on Unama’ki – Cape Breton Island, since 2011 completing a feasibility study of the arena marketplace in Cape Breton. Once development started Nustadia worked with Membertou as a Pre-opening consultant to review architectural drawings, FF&E, business development, staff hiring and ice allocation through a Community Access Plan.
The Membertou Sport & Wellness Centre has two NHL standard ice surfaces, spectator seating for 1,250 and 250 respectively. A 6,000 SF YMCA complete with cardio, workout equipment and yoga studio, 3 large community rooms and a walking track make this facility one of a kind for Cape Breton!
Nustadia was retained by Membertou to set up the operations of the facility and train the staff in the short term, turning over the operations to the Band after a two year period.
“Membertou is a progressive Mi’kmaq community focused on economic and community development. For many years, the community of Membertou had a dream of building and operating our own arena. After many years of hard work, in 2016 we opened the doors to our state-of-the-art facility which boasts 2 NHL sized ice surfaces, a fitness facility, community space, dedicated health and wellness space, and an indoor walking track.
To make our goal a reality, we worked closely with Nustadia; following their lead on how to properly open and manage our new facility. The expertise provided to us by them was invaluable and has positioned us as the leading arena in our area.”
Chief & CEO, Terry Paul, OC
