Canalta Centre ready for you
The 10-year, $75-million dream of a new hockey arena and concert venue in Medicine Hat is about to become a reality for the general population.
“Welcome to the Canalta Centre — your event centre in Medicine Hat,” building manager Peter Jelinsk, of SMG-Canada, said Tuesday to open a media sneak preview of the 6,100-seat venue on the west side of town.
“This may be our building to run but it’s an incredible opportunity to create an industry that did not exist in Medicine Hat before.”
A guided tour showed off the 198,000-square-foot facility, which can seat about 6,000 for hockey games and up to 7,100 for concerts.
There are polished concrete floors and a Jim Marshall brick mural at the entrance, luxury suites and lounge seating, and a main stairwell nearly that exceeds the size of the lobby at the Medicine Hat Arena.
Also vastly increased from the old Arena, the new building features 150 bathroom stalls and 32 to 40 cash registers spread at four main concessions (one in each corner) of the rink.
The size — made more obvious by the 52-foot ceiling — impressed civic officials, along with a seating bowl 50 per cent larger for hockey than The Arena.
Hatters will begin walking through the front doors on Saturday following a special 1-4 p.m. grand-opening event.
“People who think that because this is a city project we may have cheaped out won’t be able to say that,” said Mayor Ted Clugston. “The people who have been excited about it, this will exceed their expectations.
“For a city our size, I can’t imagine anything rivalling this across North America.”
The $74.9-million project, including $63 million in construction costs and a multi-million dollar video replay system, will also host several soirees this week to recognize donors and VIPs.
The event floor is set up with the bare stage this week to show the size of the stage production. Retractable bowl seats at one end allow seating in threequarters of the bowl, and upper tier seats in the far end will be unobstructed as the score clock can be raised into a ceiling cavity.
“The kind of shows that we will attract to Medicine Hat are looking for that intimate atmosphere,” said Jelinski. “A half bowl set-up (concert) is going to be an incredibly intimate event.”
“We really want to ‘up’ the game for what can be done in Medicine Hat,” said Jelinski.
Male vocal group, the Tenors, will perform the first concert at the centre on Sept. 23. The Tigers will hold their regular season home opener on Sept. 26
Ice will be put in on Sunday following Saturday’s public tour and ahead of Tigers training camp.
“It exceeds all expectations,” said Coun. Celina Symmonds, who attended the tour. “It will be a great facility for the community.”
A centre ice lounge will open as a bar only, with limited food service in year one, though SMG says the space could expand to provide full menu and patio service in future years.
Also, the away team dressing room will exist on the opposite side from the benches this hockey season in an expandable auxiliary dressing room
Construction on the Tigers dressing room only began recently as the two sides only agreed on lease conditions in late June.