HALFWAY THERE
U of S arena takes shape
The new arena has a skeletal feel, with bones, flesh and skin added day by day.
The University of Saskatchewan’s Merlis Belsher Place remains under construction — 50 per cent complete, to be precise — but there’s form to that concrete, those pipes, the stairs and surfaces.
“I’m asked often by strangers I don’t know, including yesterday, all the time, ‘How’s the rink going? How ’s the rink going ?’ ” said Merlis Belsher, the arena’s namesake and a donor of $12.25 million, after a tour with local media on Tuesday.
The answer is so far, so good. It’s running a little ahead of schedule, and U of S president Peter Stoicheff said it’s also on budget.
On the other side of College Drive, the ancient and rusting Rutherford Rink lives out its final year as the home of the Huskies hockey teams.
“We’ve been imagining having to replace Rutherford for decades,” Stoicheff said. “And for one reason or another, we weren’t really certain we could pull it off. But with the support of Merlis, with the support of the city, and so many other alumni and those engaged with our athletics programs ... that’s the first thing it means to me, is this university can take on a big, communityminded project and make it happen, and get the support and the funding in place for it.”
Stoicheff ’s last tour of the new $42.9-million facility was in August. A lot has happened since — there are dressing rooms, offices and work spaces, footprints for two NBA-sized basketball courts and two rink surfaces. They ’re laying pipe on the community rink; the surface that will be used for Huskies games is still a dirt floor, and it’s surrounded by concrete stands that will eventually have seats.
The university expects to have the community rink ready by October, and the 2,614-seat main arena in full operation by January 2019.
“The first thing I think of is the Huskie dog getting printed at centre-ice — that’s my big thought, the big picture in my head,” said thirdyear Huskies’ hockey forward Kohl Bauml, who was on the Tuesday tour. “That’s going to be exciting to see.”
The new facility will host the university ’s convocation in future, as well as concerts and a variety of sports including sledge hockey, court sports, maybe even curling.
Stoicheff called it “stunning ” and “a place the whole community can use.” He talked about the Tyndall stone that will decorate the outside of the building, the curved staircase, the huge lobby. It’s all part of Belsher’s vision, he says.
“Merlis understands construction, and he understands esthetics. He was always adamant that this building had to look beautiful from the outside, and when you moved into it, you felt like it was a space you belonged in and wanted to be in.”