Lively, Ontario — Due to a lack of visitation, Lively Ski Hill is knocking on heaven’s door.
CTV News reported earlier this month that on August 13th, the Sudbury City Council will decide to approve nearly $775,000 CAD in improvements for the Lively Ski Hill. These funds would go towards replacing the t-bar (which needs to be removed before it breaks down) and extensively renovating the base lodge. If these funds aren’t approved, the ski hill may close for good.
First opened in 1963, the Lively Ski Hill has been a great place to learn the fundamentals and a training spot for racers. However, in recent years, visitation to the ski hill has dropped. Only 715 skiers visited during the 2022-23 season, a sharp decrease from over 1600 visits during the 2021-22 season.
Eric Benoit, who’s the Ward 2 Councilor, said the following about what the community will need to do to save the hill:
“I’m on your side, but it’s not me that needs to be convinced — it’s everybody…Everybody needs to be convinced. We need to show that this community wants this and we’re there. And if we are able to save this, I need people to use it.”
Matt Foy, the son of one of the founders of the ski hill, is trying to save Lively. Here’s what he said about:
“If the community had known before last season that there was a risk (of it closing), this community would have rallied behind it and we would have seen a lot better numbers… But instead, we had a horrible winter. Nothing was talked about. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, well, we want to close the ski hill and it’s like, well, give us at least some time to prove that this is what we want.”
It should be noted that this isn’t the only ski hill that the City of Greater Sudbury operates. Adanac Ski Hill also had its capital spending funds halted earlier this year but features more modern infrastructure than Lively.
In response, a Change.org petition has been created to support keeping the ski hill open. You can check out the petition here.
Image Credits: Lively Ski Hill (City of Greater Sudbury)