Imagine life with fewer arenas
The city of Estevan is going through an issue that would affect all small cities and towns of all sizes if they had to go through it: the sudden loss of an arena. Coming into the season, Estevan had three indoor ice surfaces for hockey, broomball and figure skating. Affinity Place is a state of the art rink designed for its Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team and major indoor events like concerts. Opened in 2011, it’s one of the crown jewels of the newer rinks in the province. Lots of teams play there, from pee wee to senior hockey, and the dressing rooms and amenities are top of the line.
While Mosaic Place is a brilliant place to watch a game for a spectator, Affinity feels more like a home-y type of rink.
The rink that’s attached to that is currently called the Ice Centre, and that’s more for the broomball and minor and no hit hockey. It’s older, colder, it’s physically impossible to watch a game and the dressing rooms aren’t particularly big enough for actual teams of more than a dozen or so players. It’s also poorly lit for taking pictures. It’s basically a minor hockey rink that ought not to be used for much of anything else. Then there’s the Civic Auditorium. Now 60 years old, its purpose was as a rink for the old SJHL Estevan Bruins and it’s seen and survived a lot. The days of Punch McLean and brawls in the stands and on the ice mean the building has a lot of ghosts.
It wasn’t particularly well updated over the last few years, knowing the team would move into Affinity Place. It failed a recent city-imposed safety inspection and the rink had the doors shut for any further use in early November.
The reaction, as you might expect, was that of incredulity from the public. Now what do we do for our teams that have ice time booked at the Civic? Teams were practicing and playing in Torquay (43 km away) and Bienfait (14 km), among other places. It made me wonder what would happen if a third of the ice time in Moose Jaw were suddenly not there anymore. Let’s say the Pla-Mor Palace is made to disappear by David Copperfield. What would teams do? They may try the arena in Bushell Park, or Caronport, or who knows where else. But it would undoubtedly be a shock to the system.
I can’t imagine a minor sports scene without the Bert Hunt and Wally Boshuck arenas. Even losing the Kinsmen Arena would be a big body blow to minor sports here.
The city of Estevan decided last week to keep the Civic Auditorium open pending an insurance review. The doors will be unlocked once again for the user groups very soon. Whether the future holds time for a renovated Civic (count in your head the number of 60-65 year old rinks in this province), the city has at least bought itself some time. Perhaps the temporary closure was just a warning sign to the user groups: get ready for an era in which there might be 33 per cent less ice time available overall.
When you’re counting your blessings this year, spare a thought for the importance of continued maintenance of some of the Friendly City’s frequently-used buildings. It’s only when it’s taken away is that importance fully realized.