Arena to be renamed after Dr. Laceby
By Bill Rea

King councillors Monday night agreed to rename the arena in Nobleton after Dr. William Laceby.

Dr. Laceby was a dentist in King City for some 40 years, as well as a very active volunteer in the community. He died in May after a long battle with cancer.

There was little opposition to the concept of honouring Dr. Laceby, although some people wondered if this was the best way to do it. There were also concerns, led by Councillor Cleve Mortelliti, that council wasn't following protocol, and was rushing blindly into this. That issue was sort of confirmed in the report to council from Township CAO Scott Somerville, who stated the Township doesn't have an established protocol for naming or renaming recreational facilities.

In the end councillors asked staff to work on coming up with such a protocol.

It was Councillor Linda Pabst who pushed for the renaming, citing a lengthy list of Dr. Laceby's contributions to the community from the time when his family moved to the area when he was 13. He played hockey in the community as a boy and coached teams later on. He was heavily involved in the Nobleton Lions, eventually becoming club president, and was a member of Session and an Elder at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. Pabst also pointed out he became a driving force behind the building of the new arena, and personally hand-picked volunteers to help with specific tasks on the project. He also helped negotiate a provincial grant for the project. He was a recipient of an Ontario Bi-Centennial Medal in the early 1980s.

There were also many emails on the issue sent to the Township, and most of them were supportive of the change of names. Some of those opposed to the idea, like June MacIntyre of Nobleton, stated the gesture didn't go far enough. Others, like former Nobleton resident Mike Adam and former councillor Peter Grandilli, had a problem with one person being singled out when many worked hard on the project.

But several residents at the council meeting spoke up in favour.

"This is a fitting opportunity to recognize a great leader," commented King City area resident Janesse McPhillips.

King City resident Liina Peacock worked with Dr. Laceby on a number of projects and recalled he was always there to provide help and leadership.

Councillor Jeff Laidlaw was also reluctant to proceed without a protocol in place. As a compromise, he suggested just naming the auditorium above the arena after Dr. Laceby, pointing out that's been done at the arenas in King City and Schomberg. But Pabst wasn't prepared to settle for that, pushing to have the whole facility named after him.

"Bill was involved with the ice," she declared. "He was on the ice all the time."