The Memorial Arena has an uncertain future after having stopped operations in October 2010 when the ice machine broke down, preventing it from being used for skating activities. In January 2011, Belleville City Council set up a subcommittee dedicated to deciding what to do with the building and whether it still has a use for the community. While the arena could be continued as a skating rink, the costs associated with maintaining it is too high for city council to justify it considering the municipality is already funding the creation of more rinks at the Quinte Sports Centre.

Meetings on how to allow the public to involve themselves in the decision process have already been done in March, August and December, and more meeting are set for the near future.

The Memorial Arena is an important part of the heritage of the city of Belleville. It was the first place many of the residents of the community learned to skate and play hockey, and was a popular place for people of all ages to get together and socialize as one community. The arena itself is also an important dedication to the veterans of the world wars who came from this region, as the name was changed in 1946 to its present form in their honour. To demolish the building would be an outrage to many people in Belleville as it is a reminder of the contribution the city made to fight for the freedom and liberties we enjoyed today in Canada.

The Memorial Arena is also the home of probably Belleville’s greatest contribution to Canadian sport. The Belleville McFarlands played out of the Memorial Arena when they became Allan Cup champions in 1958, and became national heroes a year later when they won the World Hockey Championship in Czechoslovakia. The McFarlands are a great source of civic pride in the Belleville region and the Memorial Arena is a monument to those times when Belleville was an important Canadian hockey town.  

  
The Memorial Arena issue has stirred up enough feelings within the community to get some people to create a group in support of its survival. The Belleville Memorial Arena Preservation Society was formed as a reaction to the idea that the building could be demolished.  Many prominent residents are involved in the organization, including the surviving members of the MacFarlands.