'NOT SAVED': Delays, developer drama raise concerns about Weston arena's future
· Toronto Sun
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Lucas Miller hates to admit it, but he says Weston Lions Arena is far from saved.
When the hockey instructor became a public advocate for a future for the old rink, he showed his students what it means to not take a shift off. He spoke at city hall, to TV reporters, to anyone who would pay attention to his videos on social media. When Premier Doug Ford got involved, Miller went to his Etobicoke home for a meeting.
People in Toronto’s hockey circles would thank him for rescuing Weston Lions Arena. He said that praise is now “bittersweet” – there’s been no news in months, no details announced and apparently no major work done at the facility.
“Unless the rink is opened (in) September 2026,” Miller told the Toronto Sun , “there’s no such thing as saved. It’s not saved. How is it saved?”
Miller said when he’s organizing for the fall – as he might for one of his hockey camps, some of which were held at Weston Lions – that work begins in March. The Weston Lions Club, the former operator, no longer holds the lease to the city-owned arena, which has a $15-million repair backlog.
It has gathered dust since April 1.
Miller said he was told there would be an announcement by May, and got the impression that ice would be there this fall. A statement in March from Frances Nunziata, the councillor for York South-Weston ward, promised a “renewed ice pad” and said details would come in the second quarter of this year.
“What’s the holdup?” Miller asked. “It doesn’t make sense. Do they want it to rot so then it’s just irreparable? I don’t know…
“The frustrating part is there’s been no information. There’s been no communication at all, and now we’re at the end of June.”
A statement from the City of Toronto’s parks and recreation division said negotiations with the province and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment “to revitalize the Weston Lions Arena into an MLSE Launchpad location,” which would greatly expand its sports programming, are still happening. Neither MLSE nor Ford’s office agreed to comment for this story.
Price of ice ‘extremely high’?
But documents obtained by the Sun via a freedom-of-information request hint at what’s gone on behind the scenes.
When the community was warned that hockey’s days were numbered at arena, it was after MLSE had told city hall that keeping ice at the facility could cost more than $50 million – a total that sources have told the Sun is nowhere near accurate. The recent Scarborough Arena Gardens overhaul, for example, had a $30-million budget.
An email summary of a July 2025 meeting shows that $50-million figure was provided by Lisa Wiele, the managing director for MLSE Launchpad. Also present at that meeting were Nunziata, the local councillor, and Harley Valentine, a partner with the property developer Castlepoint Numa.
That summary was prepared and sent out by Marilyn McCrea, a consultant for the councillor who also serves on the board of the Weston Village BIA and was until recently listed as a community liaison working for Castlepoint Numa, as the Sun has reported .
“Lisa explained that ice is not likely due to the extremely high financial investment required – estimated at upwards of $50M,” McCrea’s notes say.
Castlepoint Numa, Nunziata’s office and the Weston Village BIA have ignored requests for comment from the Sun .
It’s unclear what role Valentine’s firm is playing in the project, except that it has two condo developments clustered near the arena, at Weston Rd. and Lawrence Ave. W. While the city issued a statement about the arena, it ignored a question about Valentine’s participation in the July meeting.
It’s also unclear how McCrea got involved with Nunziata, what her role is with Valentine’s firm and why she’s on the Weston BIA’s board. She’s believed to live in Grimsby, and served as property manager at a Castlepoint Numa condo development in that community, according to a 2024 article in Niagara This Week .
A person with knowledge of Castlepoint Numa’s ties to the arena, who agreed to speak with the Sun about the behind-the-scenes dynamics on condition of anonymity, said the line appeared to get blurred as to whether McCrea was representing the developer or Nunziata.
The person also said it wasn’t clear just what role Valentine has with the project. “I wish I could explain it to you,” the person said.
Also unclear is Valentine’s link to Nunziata, although he appears to have been a campaign donor. Someone with his name gave $1,200 to Nunziata’s campaign in 2022, while a Jeff Brenner – the name of another partner at Castlepoint Numa – donated $1,000, city records show.
‘In business of change’: Developer
What is obvious is Valentine felt quite comfortable talking up the transformation of the 76-year-old hockey barn into an MLSE Launchpad facility on the social media platform LinkedIn.
“I’m in the business of change and building a better city and make no bones about it.” Valentine wrote in a reply to one of his posts about the arena.
McCrea’s work for both Valentine and Nunziata has been alleged to be a “conflict” by Daniel Di Giorgio, who made the freedom-of-information request that was provided to the Sun . Di Giorgio has registered as a candidate for council in Nunziata’s ward. (Nunziata has not confirmed if she will seek re-election.)
Di Giorgio said he takes issue with the control the private sector appears to have over a public asset.
“The largest and most egregious offence, I would argue, was letting a private interest group dictate how things transpired there,” he said.
But he said he also sees problems with the information the city was working with. He wondered if the issue was perhaps that, as the documents suggest, the Lions Club wasn’t brought on board right away.
A year ago, the documents show, not only did city hall think it would cost more than $50 million to keep the Weston Lions ice, it was also told that rink was underused.
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A parks and rec director wrote in an email to Nunziata’s office in April 2025 that they had heard the Weston Lions were open to “reimagining” the space after “struggling with uptake of programs (and) registrations.”
About an hour later, the director wrote back to Nunziata’s staffer, thanking them for a phone call and saying they’d “hold off” on looping in the Lions, and the councillor would talk to them once a motion was ready to go before city council.
Miller called that remark about the arena’s supposed lack of uptake “false information.” He said there’s nowhere near enough ice time in Toronto, and the Weston rink typically had more than 60 hours booked a week.
Hundreds of skaters and hockey players – including plenty of kids – have nowhere to go with the arena closed, he said. Without that ice pad, teams, leagues and livelihoods may fall apart.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Weston, but I’m talking jammed,” Miller said. “It was jammed last year: 60-plus hours, Friday nights with the York Toros organization, the atmosphere, the family feel – I still can’t even believe that the rink is no more at this point.”