Grand OpeningGrand OpeningCommemorative ProgramCommemorative Program

September 16, 2011September 16, 2011

Proudly produced and published by the Estevan Mercury

CONGRATULATIONSCONGRATULATIONSOn Your Grand Opening

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3

It’s been a great experience!Over the past fi ve years we have had challenges, frustrations, and tense moments and at times exciting and fulfi lling milestones. Overall this has been a very rewarding opportunity for me and I am sure our committee. First of all I would like to thank my wife Denise for putting up with the count-less meetings and phone calls and also Mayor St. Onge and Council for entrusting this position to me and for their unwavering support. I would also like to thank the spouses and families of our committee members for their

patience and support.I also appreciate the goodwill, understanding and support of our building committee, with-out whose efforts and commitments to this project we would not have had the success that we have enjoyed.This started out in 2005 with Jim Puffalt, City Manager coming forward with our 20 year plan including Spectra Place. From our early meetings where Ray Frehlick and Barry Bridges put us on the right track with the suggestion of a construction manager, to the untold meetings, phone calls and e-mails between Jim, Kim, Judy and the committee and myself up to today, we can look back on Spectra Place as a true legacy to our community. It has been a great journey.Last but not least, we could not have achieved this impressive achievement without the full support of our community from the fundraising suppers — thanks Ron and his supper committee — to the individuals who gave what they could afford. Thank you! Where else in a community of our size could you raise over $ 8 million?I would be remiss if I did not also thank our provincial counterparts who brought $ 8 million to the table! Thank you Doreen. As well our Federal Government, who came through with $5 million. Thank you Ed. We simply could not have had the building we have without this support. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention our Construction Manager Graham Construction. Thank you Chad and Colin. As well, as our Architect Number 10/BEMP Architects. Thank you Kirk and Joanne.In closing I would like to thank everyone involved for their support, suggestions and guid-ance. This truly is a community project, one that we can be proud of for generations to come.Thanks you all and God blessBuilding Committee Chairman, Roy Ludwig

Grand Opening AgendaSeptember 16, 2011 • 1:00 - 4:30 pm

1:00 - 1:15 pm Offi cial Ribbon Cutting

Jim Puff alt, Master of Ceremonies1:15 - 1:30 pm Introduction and Comments

from attending dignitaries1:30 - 4:00 pm Free Public Skating & Free Refreshments to All in Forecourt

All schools are invited to attend.

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Sales & ServiceCOMPU ER

Ph: 634-22551120 6th Street, Estevan

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Congratulations Spectra Place!

It’s fi nally here. After years of planning and construction Spectra Place is now open. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome ev-eryone to our new facility. We are very proud of this multi-use facility and I am looking forward to the fi rst Bruin game. I would like to thank everyone involved in the building of Spectra Place for going above and beyond to create the great place that it is. This is far more than just an arena as shown by the success of the Cochrane Concert and the Busi-

ness Excellence Awards. We look forward to many more events in the future.Mayor Gary St. Onge

Grand Opening of Spectra Place in EstevanOn behalf of the Government of Saskatchewan, I am pleased to welcome you to the Grand Opening of Estevan’s beautiful new civic arena, Spectra Place.Spectra Place will be a wonderful showcase for Estevan and area, which has seen an unprecedented economic expansion and now has an arena to match its lofty ambitions. I am sure that this new facility will set the

stage for continued growth and prosperity. It is a testament to a community pulling together to make a dream a reality.I applaud everyone who has been involved in making the Spectra Place a success story. Congratulations on this signifi cant achievement for Estevan.Premier Brad Wall

Since the inception of the New Events Centre project, it has been my privi-lege to see the out-pouring of generosity and support from the residents and businesses of Estevan and surrounding area. With each dollar that came in, I was encouraged to see others share the same vision for our community that the members of the New Events Centre Committee have had for years.First and foremost, my profound thanks goes to our sponsors and the citi-zens of Estevan and surrounding area. Thank you for your incredible sup-

port of this project. I hope you feel proud when you see Spectra Place, knowing that without you it would not be possible. I would also like to thank Committee Chair, Roy Ludwig and City Manager, Jim Puffalt for their leadership and Judy Pilloud, City of Estevan Executive Assistant for her tireless ef-forts in keeping all of the data straight and just keeping us organized!Finally, thank you to the members of the Building Committee and the Fund-raising Com-mittee. We did it! Together, as a team, we have been able to accomplish what at times seemed impossible. You should all be very proud of Spectra Place.Fundraising Chair, Kim Anderson

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A world-class facility A world-class facility of our ownof our own

By Chad Saxonof The Mercury

One of these years I’ll learn to shut my mouth.It was February 27, 2006 when the members of Estevan city council at the time

made the long-awaited decision to replace the Civic Auditorium. Two days later, in the March 1 edition, former Mercury editor Jonas Weinrauch chronicled the decision, noting the City was looking to build a $6 million facility and that $1 million of that total would have to come from the community. ⇢

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⇠ Seven days later, in the next edition of The Mercury, I wrote a column congratu-lating council on its decision to replace the Aud but also imploring them to make sure they get it right. Little did I know what writ-ing that column would mean for the next fi ve years of my life.

It wasn’t long after writing that col-umn that I had more than a few people say “you want them to get it right, maybe you should put your name in to be on the com-mittee.” Now I’m not arrogant enough to think that my presence was going to ensure the project was done right, but I did think

it would be interesting to be part of seeing what goes into the construction of a new arena.

So it was a couple months later that the fi rst meeting of what would be known as the New Arena Construction Committee was held.

In the fi rst of many things the City would do right, they invited pretty much any group that would have anything to do with the arena from Estevan Minor Hockey to the Chamber of Commerce. Although some groups didn’t take advantage of the opportunity presented ⇢

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⇠ to them, there was a good cross section of user groups and City employees at the fi rst meeting. There were also a hand-ful of members at large including me.

That fi rst gathering was a great one. After the usual intros, Chairman Roy Lud-wig went around the room and asked every-body in attendance what they would like to see in the arena.

In many respects that fi rst session set the stage for the entire project as a num-ber of the suggestions and ideas presented would eventually fi nd their way into Spec-tra Place.

With that solid foundation under the committee they were able to get to work. As the months went by tours of other fa-cilities were carried out, designs were pre-sented and agreed upon and the fundraising work began.

In many respects the project went un-believably well. There were no major con-troversies like the one that cast a shadow over Moose Jaw’s new arena and the com-munity, realizing how badly a new rink was

needed in Estevan, threw their full support behind our committee.

However, there were some tense mo-ments. As we all sat and waited to learn if Estevan would receive money from the Building Canada Fund, a worldwide run on steel and construction materials caused the price of the arena to spike. There were also questions about water at the construction site and other assorted concerns, but to the credit of those who had to make the tough decisions, there was never any question about whether or not to move forward.

The pivotal moment came on May 2, when it was fi nally announced that Es-tevan would be eligible for money under the Building Canada Fund. In a hastily ar-ranged press conference at City Hall on a beautiful Saturday morning, MP Ed Kom-arnicki and MLA Doreen Eagles announced Estevan would receive $10.2 million in funding towards the arena.

That announcement was the green light everyone had been waiting for. Just two weeks later, on May 15, the ⇢

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⇠ offi cial sod-turning ceremony was held and, for all intents and purposes, we were off to the races.

I can’t speak for others, but I found the next couple of years the most frustrat-ing part of being in the committee. Not for any negative reason, I just wanted the rink to be done. And having the construction out in the open behind the leisure centre was one big tease.

As the project moved along we were able to tour the construction site and see the progress. It may have been early on but you could get the sense that Spectra Place was going to be something special. But that wait was bloody excruciating.

And then … it happened. After months of waiting, the fi rst event was held in Spectra Place — the fi fth and fi nal are-na fundraising dinner. That was followed shortly afterwards by the fi rst concert which featured Tom Cochrane and Kim Mitchell.

Although the rink wasn’t complete-ly fi nished, it drew rave reviews and the

sound for the concert was amazing. It blows my mind to think it was actu-

ally 2006 when the committee had its fi rst meeting. There have been a lot of ups and downs in the fi ve years since but it was all worth it. I’m obviously biased but I think Estevan now has a world-class facility that should be a source of pride for decades to come.

There are many people who deserve so much praise for their efforts in making it happen. I won’t go into a list out of fear of missing somebody and besides that, I think the true beauty of how this project came together is that it was a community effort. Estevan residents sometimes get a bad rap for being apathetic and not car-ing about the community. If anyone tries to spew that garbage, march them down to Spectra Place and show them what hap-pens when this city and region truly get behind something.

As for me, like I said, one of these years I’ll learn to shut my mouth. I’m just glad this wasn’t one of those times.

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By Norm Parkof The Mercury

Not gone, not forgotten. Ye Olde Civic Auditorium will live on, at least for a few more years, serving the com-

munity in a variety of ways. The facility, now approaching its 55th year, was built through a huge community effort,

much like how Spectra Place has come into service.But it’s served us so well, it has been given a reprieve from the wrecker’s ball, and in fact,

will probably see a lot of action, although on a secondary scale now as the city’s second-largest public facility.

Keep in mind that when the Auditorium was built, Estevan had just recently been declared an offi cial city, having surpassed the mandatory population base of 5,000 people that allowed civic offi cials to apply for that status.

Talk of a new arena to replace the ancient structure on the other side of the tracks escalated in the early part of 1957 when rumours of the city becoming the new home of ⇢

This is now, that was thenThis is now, that was then

10

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Designing One Room at a TimeDesigning One Room at a Time

⇠ an existing Saskatchewan Junior Hock-ey League team heated up.

To put things in perspective and con-text, Estevan was swirling in a vortex of “can do” spirit, just like it is today. The oilpatch boom that had begun a few years earlier was running rampant. Housing was scarce, schools were overcrowded, yet wel-coming even more students. School enrol-ment numbers had climbed from 2,194 in 1956 to 2,287 at the start of the school year in 1957. The local school board was worried because there was a teacher shortage across the province and Estevan was going to be about six teachers shy of a full complement the next year if something wasn’t done soon.

SaskPower was taking options on near-by coal supplies to ensure they would have plenty of fuel to fi re a proposed major power generating plant that had been announced and was under construction on the south side of the city.

The very busy Highway 39 was be-ing paved between Estevan and Macoun to aid the fl ow of traffi c and the pressure was

on the Highways Department to put some blacktop down between Estevan and North Portal as well.

The rumour mill had sped up the rather leisurely planning and construction schedule for the new arena, since the hint had been dropped at an SJHL luncheon meeting in Flin Flon that Roderick (Scotty) Munro was somewhat interested in fi nding a new home for his SJHL franchise, the Humboldt-Mel-fort Indians. But they would need a good rink to play in if they were expected to move here. Rosetown had also put a bid in for the team, so some quick moves had to be made.

The Estevan branch of the Royal Ca-nadian Legion kicked off the formal fund-raising campaign for the new arena with a $1,000 donation. It was reported in The Mercury at the time that $11,000 had already been spent on construction contractors.The new roof trusses were going to cost $24,000 and the steel required for the new building would come with a $15,000 cost.

By July of 1957, the roof was ready to go up on the new Auditorium. That ⇢

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634-6494Estevan, SK

⇠ consisted of 13 trusses weighing be-tween seven and eight tons each. They were installed in two days by McLean Construc-tion using 12 men and an 80 foot crane. The job was carried out under the direction of the main contractor F.W. Graham Construction.

By this time it had been confi rmed, the Humboldt-Melfort junior hockey team was being transferred to Estevan and the Name the Team contest was won by C.H. Hook of Toronto with the simple suggestion that the team should be named the Bruins, just like their NHL counterparts since the Este-van franchise would be directly linked to the NHL team.

By the way, the other name sugges-tions that received careful consideration by the judges included Gushers, Oilers, Cubs, Boomers, Wildcats and Soo-Liners.

The Bruins opened their training camp October 3 and team captain Dick Meisner was the fi rst offi cial skater on the new au-

ditorium ice surface. He opened the door and pushed off onto the surface at 9:01 a.m. According to the offi cial report in The Mer-cury. He was soon followed by the rest of his teammates after he had inscribed a fi ne Figure 8 on the surface around centre ice.

The offi cial opening ceremonies on October 24 were diminished signifi cantly when some very foul weather moved in to wreck the planned events. The laying of the arena cornerstone was postponed for another day (October 31). But the fi rst hockey game went on without a hitch with the Memo-rial Cup champion Flin Flon Bombers in Saskatchewan’s newest city to take on the hometown Bruins.

And the rest is history ... well, not quite. For more on how the roof was paid for see page 32.

The fi nal construction bill by the way, came in at $266,044.47.

Money well spent, we suggest.

Check out: www.estevanmercury.ca

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Of the many great stories that are part of the Spectra Place project, there is per-haps none more impressive, and impor-tant, than the way the community banded together to raise funds for the new arena.

Individuals and businesses from throughout Estevan and southeast Sas-katchewan showed their legendary gen-erosity by contributing over $8 million towards the cost of the $22 million events centre, a sum that is truly mind-boggling when one considers communities much larger than Estevan have had trouble rais-ing half as much.

Kim Anderson, who was chairman of the fundraising committee, said their focus when it came to raising money was to offer

donors value for their dollar. To accomplish that, they sold the naming rights to practi-cally everything in Spectra Place from title sponsorship of the entire arena, to the in-dividual seats to, literally, a pair of toilets.

That strategy proved to be a major success. In less than a year, the fundraising committee raised the $6 million that Este-van City council required before construc-tion would be allowed to move forward and are currently at $8.14 million.

Anderson said he isn’t surprised the fundraising was such a runaway success. He noted the Estevan area is well known for its generosity and that much of the leg work was done in 2008 when the price of oil was at an all-time high. ⇢

Community support a critical Community support a critical part of fundraising successpart of fundraising success

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⇠ “The timing was perfect,” Anderson said. “The oilfield business was boom-ing and people were giving. If a phone call was made, it was ‘sure, what can I do.’”

Although the fundraising was al-ready off to a great start, Anderson said the decision by Spectra Credit Union to purchase the naming rights to the arena was a major step forward and also set the tone for other businesses and indi-viduals in the community.

“Everybody really jumped on it and really felt it was something needed and they wanted to do everything possible to get it done. I think that was a big rea-son why companies like Spectra came to us.”

With the momentum gained from the Spectra announcement, the com-mittee went to work to hit the $6 mil-lion mark. Anderson said aside from the obvious generosity of the public, the make up of the committee was a big rea-son for their success as his fellow mem-

bers — Ambrose Hengen, Jeff Pierson, Mike LaCoste and Doug Trapp, each had connections to various segments of the business community and were able to tap into them.

“Every committee member had a different area that they would work on,” he said. “The whole thing just kind of networked everybody. The committee we had were really good at having the contacts and the people knowledge in the right places.”

Anderson said another aspect of the fundraising that continues to stand out for him was how diverse the list of contributors was. Although the busi-ness community is responsible for the lion’s share of the $8.14 million many individuals also stepped up to buy seats and other items

“One family bought seats for every member of their family. They got up to 28 seats for just one family only.”

A permanent reminder of the com-munity’s generosity has been erected in

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Canadian rockers Tom Cochrane (above) and Kim Mitchell provided the entertainment for Spectra Place’s fi rst concert on April 15.

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Congratulations Spectra Place!

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As anyone who has had the chance to walk through Spectra Place can attest to, the facility is certain to be among the most impressive arenas in the country. But not only is Spectra Place pleasing to the eye, it also houses a raft of technology and inter-esting features.

Following the mantra do it right and do it once that guided the course of the project, the Spectra Place committee spared no expense in outfitting the facility with the type of technology that will ensure an excellent viewing experience whether it be for a hockey game or concert.

Obviously the feature that immediate-ly catches the eye of anyone who enters the arena is the four-sided video scoreboard

that hangs over centre ice. Along with the expansive lobby, the score clock was de-signed to be one of the highlights of Spec-tra Place.

The top portion of the clock features all the usual aspects one expects to see on a clock — score, time, shots and penalties — while the lower part is home to the four video screens.

Each high definition screen is five feet tall by eight feet wide and as early tests have shown provide a TV-like viewing ex-perience.

The computer system that will run the clock is equally impressive. The four screens will be operated by the Tricaster 300 software system that will provide a

Many great features Many great features in Spectra Placein Spectra Place

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⇠ to provide slow motion and instant re-plays of any sporting events that take place in the facility.

Among the other highlights and no-table features of Spectra Place are:

• One feature that has already proven popular is the rubberized walking track which encircles the main floor of the area. The track is ideal for walkers as the impact on the body is much less than it would be on harder surfaces such as cement or pave-ment.

In terms of length, one lap of the track is 216-metres. It would take 4.6 laps to equal one kilometre and 7.5 laps to equal one mile.

• After years of straining to hear the public address announcer and dealing with the shoddy sound system in the Civic Audi-torium, fans will be happy to hear Spectra Place comes equipped with a state of the art sound system which will significantly enhance the overall experience. Along with dozens of speakers in the main arena area, there are also speakers in every dressing room and other areas such as the Estevan

Bruins complex.• To add to the overall sound qual-

ity, there have been hundreds of sound baffles installed in the Spectra Place ceil-ing. The baffles prevent noise from echoing throughout the building which is often an issue for event centres.

• There are eight public dressing rooms in Spectra Place, all of which can easily hold a team with up to 20 skaters. Each room is essentially self-contained with full shower and bathroom facilities.

Also, to accommodate the space re-quired by junior teams, there is a doorway linking the two middle dressing rooms on each side of the arena. The doorway will allow both the players and coaching/train-ing staff to have their own areas during games.

• Because Spectra Place is being billed as a true events centre, a flooring system that can cover the ice during concerts or other events was purchased. Much like larger, multi-use, venues, the City could conceivably host a concert on a Friday night and then turn around and hold a

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Ed Komarnicki, MPSouris-Moose Mountain

Toll Free: 1-866-249-4697

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⇠ eyes, Spectra Place has a unique sys-tem to hold the glass in place. Created by a company in Ontario, the system eliminates the lip on the dasher boards as the glass is almost flush with the edge of the boards.

The system improves player safety on a couple of levels as there is no edge on the dasher boards. Also, the system allows for much more give in the glass which will hopefully prevent injuries such as concussions.

• Spectra Place is home to 24 pri-

vate suites. Part of the fundraising ef-forts, the suites were immensely pop-ular as they sold out in just days and have a lengthy waiting list.

• There are two press boxes — one on each side — on the upper level of Spectra Place.

• One of the areas sure to be popular with fans is the Crescent Point Lounge which is located at the west end of Spec-tra Place on the upper concourse. Not only can fans purchase a refreshment, the view from the lounge might be the

There are eight dressing rooms in Spectra Place.

The walking track that encircles the con-course has proven to be very popular.

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Four DayForecast

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Off the Top

Rolloverclaimsone life

Estevan RCMP are continu-ing their investigation into a singlevehicle rollover near Estevan lastFriday afternoon which claimed thelife of a 17-year-old Estevanwoman.

The sport utility vehicle inwhich the woman was a passengerwas westbound on a gravel road,known as the Turnbull grid, aboutfive kilometres east of the city whenthe operator of the vehicle lost con-trol and the vehicle rolled. Therewere three occupants in the vehicle.

The teenaged female driverwas taken to St. Joseph’s Hospitalin Estevan for treatment of undeter-mined injuries while a second pas-senger was not injured in the inci-dent.

The cause of the accident isstill being sought, said RCMP me-dia relations spokeswoman HeatherRussell.

“Collision analysts are stillgoing over the vehicle to determinecertain things which would includewhether seat belts were being usedand whether there were any me-chanical malfunctions,” saidRussell.

Road conditions on the gravelroad were normal at the time of theaccident which was about 3:15.

The name of the deceased hasbeen withheld at the request of thefamily.

Wylie MitchellBuilding

ExhibitionOffice

NicholsonCentre

Forecourt

LeisureCentre

LigniteMiners Arena

By JONAS WEINRAUCHof The Mercury

A long road leading to a newhockey arena/convention centrewas started Monday.

City council brought forwarda proposal showing the projectcould start in 2010, and establish-ing a committee to start the proc-ess of looking at replacing theaging Civic Auditorium.

Council agreed to the termsof reference for the new commit-tee to get the ball rolling to replacethe auditorium, which was con-structed in 1957.

Coun. Roy Ludwig was thefirst member appointed to the com-mittee. Others could come fromthe RM of Estevan council, lei-sure services advisory board, Cor-nerstone School Division, BruinsHockey Club, Estevan MinorHockey, Estevan Skating Club,Estevan Chamber of Commerce,building construction industry,two members-at-large, city man-ager and leisure services manager.

The committee would havethe power to make recommenda-tions to council for the design ofthe arena/convention centre, fund-raising and any other issues per-taining to the replacement of theauditorium.

Any decision of the commit-tee is not binding upon the Cityuntil it is approved by a separateresolution of council.

“It’s the first step in a longprocess,” said city manager JimPuffalt. “To construct a facility ofthis type you are talking at least

five years ... probably seven yearsby the time everything is com-pleted.

“We’re also talking about anextensive fund-raising campaign,and about government grants. Atthis point in time, we don’t knowif programs will be extended be-yond 2010.

“There’s a lot of unknowns,but what we do know is the CivicAuditorium is not going to lastforever, and we have to start workon replacing it.”

The City is looking at a $6million facility being constructednorth of the Lignite Miners Centreand west of the leisure centre. The

sources of funds include $1 mil-lion from local fund-raising, $1.5million in capital grants and $3.5million from long-term borrow-ing.

Council agreed the local fundsmust be in place before the firstshovel of dirt is turned.

Earlier this year, the provin-

cial government announced thecommunity share program withthe City to receive $350,000.Council has committed $50,000of this grant towards the project.

Should the project proceed in2010, the following must occur:

* $1 million raised locally.

First step taken toreplace auditorium

Continued on Page A2

ECS HOSTS

TWIN BASKETBALL

TOURNAMENTS B1

GOLDEN RETRIEVER RESCUED FROM ICE FLOE AT BOUNDARY DAM C1

NORDIN FAMILY WINS FARM FAMILY OF THE YEAR A5

19

Congratulations CCCCCCCCCCCCCoooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttuuuuuuuuuuuuullllllllllaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttiiiiiiiiiooooooooooonnnnnnnnnsssssssss on your on your

Bob’s Electric

Contracting Ltd. 81 Escana Street.

Estevan, Sask634-9707 Phone: 482-3244

Congratulations

This facility will be such

an asset

Issue 52 • WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2009 SERVING CANADA’S SUNSHINE CAPITAL SINCE 1903 $1.00 (GST included)

Phone: (306)634-2654

Fax: (306)634-3934

PAP Registration No. 10769

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68 SOURIS AVENUE N.

ESTEVAN, SASK S4A 2M3email:

editor@estevanmercury.ca

adsales@estevanmercury.ca

prepress@estevanmercury.ca

sports@estevanmercury.ca

classi eds@estevanmercury.ca

website: www.estevanmercury.ca

FALLEN WORKERS HONOURED C1

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InsideCareers ....................... C9 - 11

Church Directory ............... C7

Classi eds .................... C4 - 8

Obituaries ...................... C8 - 9

Editorial .............................. A4

Energy ................................ B9

Business ..............................B5

Professional Directory .......C5

Service Directory ................C6

Sports ........................... B1 - 4

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2009 SEASON B1

THIS SPRING, KEEP YOUR MONEY.

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SenchukSenchuk 118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 634-3696 • Website: www.senchuk.com • E-mail: sales@senchuk.com

Ford Sales Ltd.Ford Sales Ltd.“Your Home of After Sales Service”

The Southeast Enterprise Re-

gion is taking on some substance

and form these days as the ad hoc

six-member interim board of di-

rectors steers the region toward a

new system of regional economic

development practices.

Linda Mack, regional de-

velopment co-ordinator for En-

terprise Saskatchewan, said a

permanent board will be elected

in September but in the meantime

a group consisting of Allan King

of Carlyle, Tim Scroh and Michel

Cyrenne from Estevan, Collette

Branigan from Redvers, Ashley

DeKok of Saskatchewan South-

east Tourism in Weyburn and Ken

Evans, chairman of the Southeast

Regional Ecnomic Development

Association are moving steadily

toward the complete transition

from small economic develop-

ment regions to larger all-inclu-

sive enterprise sectors which will

have more provincial funding and

a larger mandate.

“They are recruiting a chief

executive of cer right now and

that could be completed as soon

as May 15,” said Mack.

“I expect the staff members

will be lled in after that. It will

be two or three people I suppose,”

she said.

Enterprise

region taking

shape

Continued on Page A2

One of the nal hurdles to the

start of construction on Estevan’s

new arena and events centre has

been cleared.

The federal and provincial

governments announced Saturday

they will provide $10.2 million

— $5.1 million each — in fund-

ing for the new facility.

Souris-Moose Mountain

MP Ed Komarnicki and Estevan

MLA Doreen Eagles made the an-

nouncement Saturday at City Hall

in front of members of the new

arena committee, city council and

supporters who were obviously

thrilled with the news.

“This is just absolutely, truly

fantastic,” said councillor Roy

Ludwig who is the chairman of

the new arena committee. “We

didn’t expect these kinds of mon-

ies to come forward. We have

worked countless hours, and ac-

tually years, on this so for this to

come to fruition, I am just at a loss

for words. It’s just awesome.”

Saturday’s announcement

put an end to what had been a

long wait for the members of

the committee and the commu-

nity who have been anxious to

see construction on the facility

begin.The city had initially applied

for funding under the rst phase

of the Building Canada Fund but

was rejected in late 2008. How-

ever in the most recent federal

budget, a communities compo-

nent was added to the BCF which

placed a special focus on cities

and towns with a population of

under 100,000.

Komarnicki said a lot of

$10.2 millionFederal and provincial governments come up big for new arena

Souris Moose-Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki and Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles announced

Saturday that the new Estevan arena and events centre would receive $10.2 million from

the Building Canada Fund’s communities component.

work and lobbying went into the

nal decision but he was happy

to help the city get the full $10.2

million it had applied for.

“Estevan has been on this

project a long time and it has not

always been certain but I was

pleased today to be able to an-

nounce the federal portion of the

contribution,” said Komarnicki.

“The city made a pretty

gutsy move in asking for $10.2

million. We have worked with a

number of ministers provincially

and federally to make it happen.

I know that Rob Mary eld, the

Minister of State and Transport

and also the Western Canada

Minister and Gerry Ritz, who is

our Saskatchewan minister, we

have been on them a very long

time as have other events centres

in Saskatchewan.

“We want shovel-ready proj-

ects and these are shovel-ready

projects. They obviously have

community support because they

have raised signi cant amounts of

dollars. I can tell you that as late

as (Friday) afternoon it wasn’t

yet a done deal so there was an

incredible amount of work that

was going on behind the scenes

for quite a period of time to make

this happen.”

Eagles said the province’s

contribution of $5.1 million is in

addition to the $2.9 million which

was announced in 2007 bringing

their overall contribution to a

remarkable $8 million.

“I want to offer my sincere

congratulations to the commu-

nity of Estevan and all that are

involved for this project to move

forward,” Eagles said. “Your

diligence and your efforts have

been tremendous.”

Saturday’s announcement

was signi cant on a couple of

other fronts. With $13 million in

contributions from the two levels

of government and roughly $6.97

million raised by the fundrais-

ing arm of the arena committee,

there is $19.97 million in funding

locked up for the project that has

an estimated price tag of $20.6

million.Because of that, Ludwig said

the impact on the taxpayers of

Estevan will be minimal.

“We will have to see how it

all shakes out but at this time it

looks like minimal taxpayer dol-

lars will have to come forward

which is absolutely awesome,”

said Ludwig.

The announcement also

means the committee can move

to the construction phase. Ludwig

said it was expected the commit-

tee would meet Tuesday to go

over the tender packages and that

a date for groundbreaking would

also be set.

“We’ll be crossing the t’s

and dotting the i’s on the tenders.

Graham Construction and our ar-

chitect will be coming into town

and from that point forward we

will be talking to Kelly Panteluk

Construction about excavation.”

Along with Estevan, Moose

Jaw also held a funding an-

nouncement Saturday. Moose

Jaw will receive $23.4 for their

project which includes a new

arena, curling rink and indoor

soccer facility.

Construction crews are

scheduled to begin their work

on the $2.3 million rebuild of the

Highway 39 bridge (overpass) of

the CPR tracks on the east side of

Estevan next week.

The Ministry of Highways

and Infrastructure informed city

council in late April that the

second phase of the project was

scheduled to start May 11 and

that a rerouting of traf c around

the project by means of a detour

onto Escana Street that runs paral-

lel to the highway, would begin

shortly after.

Ministry of cials now indi-

cate that the construction crews

will begin this spring’s project

with work that focuses on the

underside of the bridge so traf c

will not have to use any detour

until May 20 if the work proceeds

on schedule.

That will allow local motor-

ists and transport drivers to use

the overpass as usual until after

the May long weekend.

“The importance of the proj-

ect is very clear, as this 47-year-

old bridge carries an average of

6,200 vehicles per day including

commercial trucks bringing goods

in and out of the province,” said

Highways and Infrastructure

Minister Wayne Elhard. “It is

essential for the safety of motor-

Overpass details revealed as work set to begin

Ahoy MateyLogan Nielsen went with the pirate theme for his venture into the MS Walk on Sunday

afternoon, starting at the leisure centre’s forecourt. His wagon was bedecked in a pi-

rate ship theme as individuals and teams were encouraged to adopt a theme as part

of the fun for the fundraising tour.

ists and ef ciency Saskatchewan

exports, that the bridge is rebuilt

to properly withstand those heavy

loads for the long term.”

The bridge was under a de-

tour scenario for a good part of

last summer before the crews

drew the project to a close in Oc-

tober. Work that was completed

last season included removal of

the existing asphalt surface, con-

crete barriers and general concrete

and corroded steel in the bridge

deck. The existing concrete gird-

ers were strengthened to accom-

modate heavier traf c, the steel

and concrete were replaced in the

bridge deck and a new drainage

system has been installed.

The work that is yet to be

done includes the sealing of con-

crete traf c barriers, waterproof-

ing the deck and applying a nal

asphalt surface, which should

take about four weeks, weather

permitting.

Traf c will be detoured north

onto Kensington Avenue and east

onto Escana Street, as it was last

summer and the detour route has

been upgraded by Highways and

Infrastructure to accommodate

the heavy traf c. They said the

area will be clearly signed for

motorists. The bridge is a six-span rein-

forced concrete structure built in

1962. It is about 90 metres long

and 8.5 metres wide.

Last week several members

of Estevan’s city council ex-

pressed frustration regarding the

fact that the work was going to

require another four weeks to six

weeks which would disrupt local

and through traf c during another

peak season.

But Kirsten Leatherdale, a

spokeswoman for Highways and

Infrastructure, said that the project

had to be put into a clear perspec-

tive as to why the work and the

structure itself is so important.

Continued on Page A2

Issue 2 • WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2009 SERVING CANADA’S SUNSHINE CAPITAL SINCE 1903 $1.00 (GST included)

Phone: (306)634-2654Fax: (306)634-3934PAP Registration No. 10769

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68 SOURIS AVENUE N.ESTEVAN, SASK S4A 2M3email: editor@estevanmercury.caadsales@estevanmercury.caprepress@estevanmercury.casports@estevanmercury.caclassi eds@estevanmercury.cawebsite: www.estevanmercury.ca

ESTEVAN STUDENTS ATTEND MODEL UN C1POOR ATTENDANCE AT CITY MEETING A3

InsideCareers ..................... C10 - 12Church Directory ............... C7Classi eds .................... C4 - 8Obituaries ............................C8Editorial .............................. A4 Energy ................................ B6Business ..............................B5Professional Directory .......C5Service Directory ................C6Sports ........................... B1 - 4

SATURDAYSunny

High 21 Low 5POP 0%

FRIDAY

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High 15 Low 1POP 0%

Mainly SunnyHigh 17 Low 5

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High 17 Low 5POP 30%

KENT WINS MODIFIED FEATURE B1

THIS SPRING, KEEP YOUR MONEY.

0FIRSTPAYMENT ‡

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Off ers vary by model. Not all combinations apply. See dealer for details.

*

118 Souris Ave. N., Estevan 634-3696 • Website: www.senchuk.com • E-mail: sales@senchuk.com

WISE BUYERS READ THE LEGAL COPY: *The Ford Five-0 Event (“Five-0”) is in effect from May 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009 at participating Ford

of Canada Dealerships. During the Five-0 Event one or more combinations of $0 rst month’s payment, 0% APR purchase nancing for up to 60

months, $0 down payment, $0 due at signing, and $0 security deposit will apply to the purchase nance or lease of select new 2009 and 2010

Ford vehicles. Offers vary by model and not all combinations will apply. Offers are available to retail customers only. Offers include freight and

air tax, but exclude license, insurance, PPSA, registration, administration fees and all applicable taxes. These offers are subject to vehicle avail-

ability and may be cancelled at any time without notice. Dealer may sell or lease for less. Limited time offers. Some conditions apply. ‡ $0 rst

month’s payment required on the purchase nance or lease of all new 2009 and 2010 Ford vehicles delivered on or before June 30, 2009. Off er

valid from May 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009. First monthly payment will be paid up to a maximum amount of $500/$750/$1,000 per eligible 2009 and

2010 Focus, Fusion, Mustang, Taurus, Escape, Ranger / Edge, Flex, Taurus X, Explorer 4Dr, Explorer Sport Trac, E-Series / Expedition, F-150,

F-Super Duty. Off er only available to customers who nance or lease through Ford Credit. Off er not available to cash purchase customers.

Off er is only available on approved credit (OAC) from Ford Credit. A, X, Z plan customers are eligible for $0 rst month payment, see dealer

for details. Not combinable with Commercial Fleet Incentive program, CPA, GPC or Daily Rental Allowances. Rainchecks only available on the

purchase of eligible vehicles. ‡‡ Pay $0 rst month’s purchase nance payment at your participating Ford dealer and for the remaining 59

-month’s of the total 60 month purchase nance contract, receive 0% APR purchase nancing on most new 2009 Ford Focus (excl. S), Ranger

Super Cab (Sport, XLT, FX4, Edge (excl. SE), Explorer Sport Trac 4x2 & 4x4, Escape XLT I4 (excl. Manual), V6 & Limited, Flex, F-150 (excl.

Regular Cab), F-250-450 (excl. Chassis Cabs) and F-350-550 Chassis Cabs (Gas & Diesel) for a maximum of 60 months to quali ed retail

customers, on approved credit (OAC) from Ford Credit. Not all buyers will qualify for the lowest APR payment. †† $0 due at signing offers include

freight and air tax, but exclude license, insurance, registration, PPSA, administration fees and all applicable taxes. Excluded variable charges

can be amortized over a purchase nancing term, but are required up front charges for lease customers. See your Ford Dealer for complete

details or call 1-888-566-3333. **$0 Security Deposit on the lease of most new 2009 and 2010 Ford vehicles (excluding 2009 Ford Shelby GT

500 & 500KR, E-Series Cutaway, F-350 Chassis Cabs, F-450 & F-550 Chassis Cabs Gas & Diesel Engines / 2010 Ford Shelby GT 500 &

500KR, Transit Connect, E-Series Cutaway, F-350 Chassis Cabs Gas & Diesel Engines, F-450 & F-550 Chassis Cabs Gas & Diesel Engines)

effective April 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009. Security Deposit may be required by Ford Credit based on customer credit terms and conditions.

What began five years ago as an item on the City of Es-tevan’s 20-year plan officially became a reality Friday.The sod turning ceremony for Estevan’s new arena and events centre was held on the site of the new facility, signal-ling the official start of what is expected to be an 18- month construction process.A number of local, pro-vincial and federal dignitaries, as well as roughly 75 Estevan residents, were on hand for Friday’s event despite the cool temperatures and brisk wind.However the poor weather did not dampen the enthusi-asm of the many individuals and groups who joined forces to bring this much-needed arena to the Energy City.“It’s a tremendous facility that will be here for the next 100 years,” said city manager Jim Puffalt, who was the em-cee of Friday’s ceremony.Puffalt said the co-op-eration of all three levels of government and the work of such groups as the new arena committee helped take the new arena from a mere dream to a reality in a very short period of time.

He also noted that with $13 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments and roughly $7 million from local fundrais-ing, the facility is almost paid for, something that is unheard of with projects of the size and magnitude.“This is a success story that I don’t think has been repeated in North America,” Puffalt said.

Among the local officials on hand for Friday’s ceremony was Mayor Gary St. Onge.

“A great day for Estevan”

He said when the idea of con-structing a new arena was first broached he admitted that with so much work needing to be done throughout Estevan, he wasn’t sure the project would get off the ground.“When this project first started, I thought I’m not sure we can do this,” said St. Onge, who added that the support from both governments was a big factor in helping the project get off the ground.

“When the relationships among governments work it’s rewarding.”Souris-Moose Mountain MP Ed Komarnicki, who, along with Estevan MLA Doreen Eagles, played a major role

in helping Estevan secure the final $10.2 million in Build-ing Canada funding which led to the green light of con-struction was also at Friday’s ceremony.Komarnicki said a lot of work went into securing the money and credited his gov-ernment’s relationship with the province as well as the support of communities throughout southeast Saskatchewan as ma-jor factors in their success.“We saw the regional sup-port for this project. That goes a long way in getting political support,” Komarnicki said. “There was a lot of lobbying going on. The relat ionship among governments was good.

There was some bending and twisting along the way to make it work.”Eagles, who along with Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Hutchinson represented the province, echoed Komarnicki’s sentiments.

“It’s awesome when three levels of government co-oper-ate. I am pleased to have been part of a government that made this happen,” she said.“This (arena) has been a long time coming. There is a huge debt owing to the whole community because they gave with the heart.”Friday’s event also includ-ed a presentation from Spectra Credit Union who made a con-tribution of $1 million to the facility in 2007.

Spectra CEO Tim Schroh and Tami Scot t , Spect ra’s executive vice-president, pre-sented St. Onge with a cheque for $100,000 which was the first installment of their $1 million contribution.

Shovel ready project for Estevan. The golden spades were handled by, left to right: Es-

tevan Mayor Gary St. Onge; RM of Estevan Reeve Marie Dukart; Sask. Municipal Affairs

Minister Bill Hutchinson; MLA Doreen Eagles, Arena/Complex committee chairman Roy

Ludwig and MP Ed Komarnicki.

Tim Schroh, CEO of Spectra Credit Union and Tami Scott, executive vice-president for Spectra and its community foundation manager, presented Estevan Mayor Gary St. Onge (centre) with a cheque in the amount of $1 million to represent the Credit Union’s pledge to the new complex over the next several years.

The first case of the H1N1 in uenza, which is more commonly known as the Swine Flu, has been found in the Sun Country Health Region.Sun Country con rmed Tues-day that the H1N1 in uenza was diagnosed in a teenager who experi-enced a mild case of the disease. The teenager fully recovered by April 28 and did not require hospitalization. “Cases have been reported in most Canadian provinces and were expected here,” said Sun Country Health Region Medical Health Of- cer Dr. Shauna Hudson. “This is a mild case, similar to many of the cases identi ed in Canada.”“Sun Country Health Region will continue its surveillance for H1N1 u cases and we continue to emphasize simple steps people can take to keep themselves healthy.” People are reminded that hand washing is the single most important way to avoid getting in uenza, and many other infections.

People with mild flu-like symptoms should stay at home and avoid public places until they have recovered. They can also stop the spread of in uenza by remembering to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when they cough or sneeze. If no tissue is available, cough or sneeze into an upper sleeve, not your hands.

First local H1N1 case reported

Jump Rope, or Hoops, for HeartThe students and staff of Sacred Heart School, including Jaelyn Carlisle, stepped up in a big way for the Heart and Stroke Foundation Thursday. The school raised $8,464 for the organization through the Jump Rope for Heart event. Sacred Heart has a long history of supporting the Founda-tion as it has raised $24,929 during their last ve Jump Rope for Heart events.

By Norm Parkof The Mercury

Later this fall the Sun Country Health Region’s board of directors and administration will be able to turn more of their attention to the plan to replace the Estevan Regional Nurs-ing Home with a new facility. Right now their hands are full with the planning and decisions that are needed to build replacement fa-cilities for health centres in Radville, Kipling and Redvers. “That’s keeping us all pretty busy these days,” said Cal Tant, chief executive of cer for the health region, from his Weyburn of ce last week.

“We want to go to tenders for all three of these facilities this summer, get the bids in and start work,” he added, referring to the fact that pro-vincial funding for these replacement centres was included in this year’s provincial budget. Once that process is under-way, it could be time to focus on the planning that could lead to the construction of a new nursing home in Estevan and an application for provincial funds.

“The ERNH plans could move

More attention will turn to nursing home project this fallforward this fall,” said Tant. A local fundraising commit-tee, headed by businessman Jim Pratt, has been struck to get the project underway. So far the group has received between $20,000 and $30,000 in donations to complete a feasibility and needs-based study leading to a functional design for the nursing home that is expected to be added to the St. Joseph’s Hospital in the future. It will replace the current struc-ture on Wellock Road that was built in the mid 1960s and was added to in the 1970s.

Funds amounting to a few mil-lion dollars will be required to meet the local nancial obligations for the new facility. The provincial govern-ment provides funds to cover 65 per cent of the total cost while the local fundraising is expected to cover the remaining 35 per cent. Tant also said that by this fall, the Sun Country board is expecting to hire a consultant to help them de-velop a functional program for acute care services in the region which would focus on the two major centres of Weyburn and Estevan. “The consultant will be asked to help determine what’s best for the

region and the people,” said Tant, pointing out that Sun Country is currently operating with two major hospitals serving the area as district hospitals with neither one being able to increase services to be designated as a regional acute care facility. The extensive study will be able to help the board and administration deal with that reality while providing ef- cient service to acute care patients and their families.Tant said the need for a CT scanner in Sun Country is well docu-mented, but exactly where it should be located is still up for debate. “Where would people like to go to get the service? That’s one question that has to be answered. We have to deal with the realities,” said Tant.

In the meantime, he said the Weyburn General Hospital was pleased to learn that after two years, more complete obstectrical/mater-nity services will be returning to that facility later this year. Nursing, medi-cal and support staff will have to be re-acquainted with the program but it was a positive sign that the nursing and physician shortages that led to the removal of the service in the rst place, have now been addressed. SPRING, KEEP YOUR MONEY.SPRING KEEP YOUR MO

000FIRSTFIRST

PAYMENT ‡

$$$000DUE ATDUE AT

DELIVERY ††

$$$00DOWNDOWN

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$$$ 00PURCHASEPURCHASE

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w.senchuk.com • E-mail: sales@senchuk.com

eywith the pirate theme for his venture into the MS Walk on Sunday

t the leisure centre’s forecourt. His wagon was bedecked in a pi-

ndividuals and teams were encouraged to adopt a theme as part

ndraising tour.

InsideInsideCareers ..................... C10 - 12Church Directory ............... C7Classi eds .................... C4 - 8Obituaries ............................C8Editorial .............................. A4 Energy ................................ B6Business ..............................B5Professional Directory .......C5Service Directory ................C6Sports ........................... B1 - 4

SATURDAYSunny

High 21 Low 5POP 0%

ds are with the planning and decisions tare needed to build replacement cilities for health centres in RadvilKipling and Redvers. “That’s keeping us all pretbusy these days,” said Cal Tanchief executive offf cer for the healtregion, from his Weyburn offf ce lasweek.

“We want to go to tenders for althree of these facilities this summer,get the bids in and start work,” headded, referring to the fact that pro-vincial funding for these replacement centres was included in this year’s provincial budget. Once that process is under-way, it could be time to focus on the planning that could lead to the construction of a new nursing home in Estevan and an application for provincial funds.

“The ERNH plans could move

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After almost three years of plan-ning it was announced the fed-eral and provincial governments would be contributing $10.2 mil-lion towards the construction of Spectra Place. Shortly after a ground breaking ceremony was held and the project was under way.

20

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It was a pleasure being a part of this project.

Once the ground was offi cially broken, Once the ground was offi cially broken, excavation began shortly afterwards.excavation began shortly afterwards.

21

1305 - 9th St. Estevan

634-6456

Congratulations Congratulations on your Grand Opening on your Grand Opening

Spectra Place!Spectra Place!

Congratulations Spectra PlaceHaving this new facility will be an

asset to our community.

#1-1104 5th Street, EstevanPhone: 1-306-634-7311Toll Free: 1-866-284-7496

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Congratulations Congratulations Spectra Place!Spectra Place!

Thanks to the fundraising committee,

you saw a goal and you reached it!

A timeline in photos

Once the steel arrived on site the structure of Spectra Place began to take shape.

22

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The All-Rite Groupof Companies

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Mechanical ContractorsPeter Hughes

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23

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24

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These two photos show the progress of the roof and concrete work.These two photos show the progress of the roof and concrete work.

25

The laminated beams that adorn the ceiling in the lobby approach area are one of the architectural highlights of the building.

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At right: Water created a big issue for the con-struction crews working on Spectra Place. Heavy rainfalls and runoff in 2010 pushed the pace of construction back by a number of months and also increased costs on the project.

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After years of wishing, wait-ing, hoping and more waiting, the residents of Estevan got their rst glimpse of Spectra Place Friday night.

The city’s new events centre was nally unveiled to the public when it

hosted the fth and nal area fund-raising dinner which was headlined by Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke.

While the wait to open the arena was a bit longer than expected, the reaction of all who entered the facil-ity Friday indicated it was more than worth it as there were plenty of rave

reviews from those attending the dinner and the speakers themselves.

“Look at this magical place you guys have built,” said Burke, who was effusive in his praise for Spectra Place. “What you, you the commu-nity have done is take a dream and convert it (to reality). This thing is awesome.”

Although there is plenty of nishing work yet to be completed,

construction crews have been work-ing at a breakneck pace over the past few weeks to get Spectra Place ready enough to hold the dinner.

And it’s a good thing they did as

the nal dinner, like the four that pre-ceded it, was another major success.

With the always entertaining Burke as the featured speaker and Saskatchewan Roughriders Darian Durant and Gene Makowsky also part of the agenda, more than 700 people made their way to Spectra Place and raised well over $200,000, the bulk of that total coming through the live auction.

A new F-150 half-ton donated by Senchuk Ford was the big-ticket item in the auction, bringing in $64,000. Another hot item was the rare op-portunity to travel with an NHL team

offered up by Burke. The package, which went for $25,000, includes a game in Toronto and a chance to join the Leafs on the road for two games.

The next major event scheduled for Spectra Place is the April 15 grand opening concert featuring Canadian rockers Tom Cochrane and Red Rider with special guests Kim Mitchell.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased at ticketmaster.ca. Tickets must be purchased in advance as there will be no sales at the door.

For more on the fundraising din-ner and the athlete of the year award presentations, please see page B1.

At long last!Spectra Place opens to rave reviews

The chief executive of- cer for SaskPower took an

informal tone to the podium last Wednesday evening as he addressed about 120 members and guests of the Estevan and District Board of Tourism, Trade and Com-merce.

Robert Watson, who joined SaskPower a little over a year ago, having accepted a transfer from his former position as head man at SaskTel, indicated that with a federal election campaign now in the works, expected federal regulations associated with capture and sequestration of carbon di-oxide in thermal power

production plants will, once again, be put on hold.

The expected regula-tions were supposed to have been revealed by the federal government in April, but that is obviously not going to happen as Parliament is now prorogued, pending the outcome of a late spring election.

But with the rst phase of a retrofit on Boundary Dam Power Station’s No. 3 unit already underway, Wat-son hinted that the province and SaskPower may just proceed with the complete $1.2 billion project anyway. He noted that the new gener-ator for Unit 3 is being built

at an additional expense to accommodate carbon di-oxide capture features and ensuing C02 sequestration capabilities. About $360 million is already being ex-pended on the 120 megawatt power project in the first phase of construction.

The federal govern-ment has provided $240 million toward the project with that being sent to the province over three years ago.

Watson stopped short of saying the carbon capture aspect of the project will move ahead for sure, but that since the expenditures had been made to accom-

modate it, the refusal by a senior government to not go ahead with a clean coal/environmentally friendly con guration didn’t seem likely.

Watson also suggested that SaskPower might also show initiative in moving forward with a pilot project component at nearby Shand Power Station. He said since an earlier proposal for a partnership with Montana to explore more clean coal technology, including se-questration and use of C02 as an enhanced oil recovery agent, has been cancelled by senior governments, SaskPower may proceed

with their own testing facil-ity that could attract private industry power produc-ers wanting to test various components of experimental projects in a commercial-sized venue.

Watson told the group that Units 1 and 2 at Bound-ary Dam are being shut down and decommissioned within the next few years, only because they are now considered too small to rebuild ef ciently.

The CEO noted how the demand for power has been growing substantially and steadily in the province over the past few years,

A2

SaskPower CEO takes Estevan on a tour of the future

ECS Cheerleaders Capture Provincial Championship

B5

Spectra Place was unveiled to the public

Friday night for the fi fth and fi nal arena

fundraising dinner which was attended

by over 700 people.

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Whether it was planned or not, Tom Cochrane really couldn’t have picked a bet-ter opening song if he tried.

The Canadian rocker kicked off his set at Friday’s Spectra Place grand open-ing concert with his 1989 hit single Victory Day, a tting number as the resi-

dents of Estevan celebrated the opening of the beauti-ful, state of the art facility which was more than ve years in the making.

Cochrane and h is bandmates were joined on the twin bill by fel-low Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell who provided an equally entertaining show as he tore through a crowd-pleasing set.

Although there were a couple of kinks such as long lines at the beer windows, the show went about as well as could be expected for a maiden voyage as Spectra Place proved it will be a great venue for future shows with great acoustics and sight lines from vir-tually everywhere in the building.

“I thought it was a great event,” said City manager Jim Puffalt. “It was a great opportunity to showcase the building again and it was

Cochrane gives Spectra Place a grand opening

Victory Victory Day!Day!

nice to hear the sound in the place. People came up to me and said to me ‘the sound is awesome, best that I have heard in a long time’ so I was pretty pumped about that. We had a little bit of issues with the beer lines but we had that gured out by the second act so all in all, it was a great show.”

After opening the show with Victory Day and pump-ing out a few high energy numbers, Cochrane and his band, which included Ken Greer and Jeff Jones who have been with Co-chrane dating back to their days as Red Rider, slowed things down for a handful of songs.

The slower set also included a poignant mo-ment as Cochrane dedicated the song The Untouchable One to Aeramis Kolke, the 13-year-old Estevan resident who recently com-mitted suicide partly due to being bullied.

The rest of the roughly two and half hour set in-cluded many of the hits fans expected to hear from the Red Rider hit White Hot to his worldwide hit Life is a Highway. Cochrane also took time to give Spectra Place a stamp of approval,

noting “these are buildings where you come to cele-brate life and hopefully you will come here to celebrate a lot of life … and some hockey championships.”

After a brief respite backstage, the band came out for an encore that in-cluded White Hot and Boy Inside the Man from his 1986 album Tom Cochrane and Red Rider.

Known largely for his

portfolio of party anthems, Mitchell and his band of bassist Peter Fredette, drummer Chris Sutherland and keyboardist Don Bre-ithaupt, did a fantastic job

of warming up the crowd with hits such as Patio Lan-terns, Go for a Soda and I am a Wild Party.

He also shared with the crowd that he was excited to play Estevan as his father

was born and raised in the city before moving east to Ontario.

Although an official attendance count was un-available before press time, it’s estimated that just over 2,000 people took in Fri-day’s show.

Canadian rock icon Tom Cochrane and his band Red Rider were in Estevan Friday

night for the Spectra Place grand opening concert. Below, Cochrane and guitarist

Jeff Jones come together during the two and a half hour performance.

Kim Mitchell provided the opening act for Friday’s show.

Along with playing his usual brand of party music Mitchell

surprised the crowd when he informed them that his father

was born and raised in Estevan.

“These are buildings where you come

to celebrate life and hopefully you will

come here to celebrate a lot of life …

and some hockey championships.”

– Tom Cochrane

0 e d

been revealed by the federal government in April, but that is obviously not going

h P li i

capabilities. About $360million is already being ex-pended on the 120 megawatt

j i h fi

con guration didn’t seem likely.

Watson also suggested h S kP i h l

components of experimental projects in a commercial-sized venue.

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b l d b th f d l biliti Ab t $360 ti did ’t t f i t l

The fi rst event in Spectra Place was held in March when the fi nal arena fundraising dinner featured Toronto Maple Leafs General Man-ager Brian Burke. Just over two weeks later the fi rst concert featured Tom Cochrane and Kim Mitchell. And in July the ice was installed in anticipation of the upcoming hockey season.

28

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Although Estevan might be a long way from the hockey mecca of Toronto and even a good hike from NHL cities such as Calgary or Winnipeg, that didn’t stop the stars from coming out for five dinners held to raise funds for Spectra Place.

The New Arena Fundraising Dinners, as they were called, attracted some of the biggest names in hockey, football and Ca-nadian television to Estevan.

Organized by dinner chairman Ron Areshenkoff and a dedicated army of vol-unteers too big to mention, the dinners raised well over $1 million towards the construction of the beautiful new facility.

The first of the five dinners was held in 2007 and attracted nationwide atten-

tion when NHL commissioner Gary Bett-man agreed to be the featured speaker. De-spite his high profile in the game of hockey, Bettman’s busy schedule does not allow him many opportunities to speak at public events such as the new arena dinner.

Due in no small part to Bettman’s presence, the dinner was a massive suc-cess. Although he is certainly one of the most polarizing figures in the game of hockey, tickets for the dinner, which also featured then Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke, sold out in days.

The local businesses and individuals who attended the dinner at the Estevan Comprehensive School also came in a giv-ing mood, spending over $86,000 in the ⇢

Stars come out for Stars come out for fundraising dinnersfundraising dinners

Joe Bowen (left) and Joe Bowen (left) and Brian BurkeBrian Burke

29

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⇠ live auction and helping to raise almost $200,000 in total.

While the appearance of Bettman left organizers with a hard act to follow, the second dinner was also a memorable event as another controversial fi gure — this time Micheal Landsberg, the host of TSN’s long-running program Off The Record — served not only as emcee but also as the featured speaker.

Joining Landsberg on stage were a pair of Saskatchewan Roughriders, Jeremy O’Day and Gene Makowsky, who were fresh off of winning the Grey Cup just fi ve months earlier.

The 2009 dinner gave the generous Estevan audience the chance to hear from a recently minted Hockey Hall of Famer as long-time NHL linesman Ray “Scampy” Scapinello was the featured speaker.

In spite of his small stature, Scapinello carried a big profi le among NHL offi cials thanks in large part to his being selected to work some of the biggest games in hockey history and his obvious love for the game which came through in his memorable

speech.Along with Scapinello was one of the

toughest players to ever out come of Sas-katchewan, Spy Hill product Jeff Odgers. The Saskatchewan Roughriders were also represented at the dinner again as wide re-ceiver Weston Dressler made his way to Es-tevan and provided the comedic ⇢

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⇠ highlight of the night.With Canada still basking in the glow of

an incredible performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2010 dinner featured the man that helped provide the biggest highlight of the Games, Steve Yzerman.

One of hockey’s greatest players, Yzer-man was the GM of the Canadian men’s hockey team and was tasked with selecting a

lineup that would capture the gold medal on home ice.

As we all know now, Yzerman and his management team were vindicated when their selections defeated the United States in overtime to capture gold.

Just days after winning gold, both Yzer-man and Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, who was a member of the man-agement team, were in Estevan to headline the fourth fundraising dinner.

Both men proved to be great speakers as they provided the sold-out audience with a behind the scenes look at the Olympic hockey tournament and Canada’s thrilling gold medal win.

The fourth dinner was among the most successful and also the end of an era. After calling the Estevan Comprehensive School home for four years, the event fi ttingly moved to Spectra Place for its fi nal kick at the can.

The dinner was memorable for a number of reasons. Not only was it the fi rst time the majority of those attending the dinner would see Spectra Place, it also marked the return of Brian Burke to Estevan. ⇢Gary BettmanGary Bettman

31

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⇠ Now the general manager of the To-ronto Maple Leafs, Burke was joined at Spectra Place by his assistant GM Dave Nonis and Joe Bowen who has been the play-by-play voice of the Leafs for a num-ber of years. As well Darian Durant and Gene Makowsky of the Roughriders were also part of the full agenda.

However it was the Toronto trio, in particular Bowen and Burke, who stole the show with a memorable appearance,

at least for the audience. As usual Burke imparted his hockey knowledge to those in attendance. He also showed his gener-ous side, offering up a once in a lifetime trip for the auction that raised thousands of dollars.

Not only was the fi nal dinner a fi tting conclusion to an impressive fi ve-year run, it also pushed the total over the $1 million mark and helped the arena fundraising reach its goal of $8 million.

Ray ScapinelloRay Scapinello Gord MillerGord Miller

32

Highway 39 East, EstevanPhone: 637-2060 Fax: 637-2065

Congratulations Spectra Place Congratulations Spectra Place on your Grand Opening.on your Grand Opening.

We are proud to be a part of a We are proud to be a part of a community that pulled together community that pulled together

to build such a great facility!to build such a great facility!

Sometimes getting to where you need to go takes a little innovation, imagination and ... well, sometimes it could even involve a few shady shenanigans, as long as no one is harmed.

How they managed to make some of the fi nal payments on the Civic Auditorium is an interesting story according to former Este-van Bruin coach and now gold-miner Ernie “Punch” McLean.

“All the people who were directly in-volved are dead now, so I guess the story can be confi rmed,” said McLean from his British Columbia home during a telephone conserva-tion a few months ago.

Although he wasn’t a central character in the plot, McLean certainly was an eye and ear witness so he’s stepping up now to tell the story about how the Civic Auditorium roof was paid for, back in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

McLean, who was coming aboard the junior Bruins train as assistant coach to coach/owner “Scotty” Munro, had a ring-side seat as the story unfolded.

“They needed $40,000 to fi nish paying for that roof and they weren’t getting there anywhere fast, so Scotty borrowed the money from the Boston Bruins to pay for it. He made the arrangements with Boston’s general man-ager Weston Adams,” McLean recalled.

“Scotty was getting an extra $5,000 a year from the Bruins to be their scout out here so he fi gured they could just deduct that amount from the bill until the 40 grand was repaid.”

Well, it seems that after the money was sent and spent, a few weeks later in fact, Mun-ro received an irate phone call from the presi-dent of the Boston Bruins’ board of directors demanding the return of the money.

“Scotty tried to tell him that he ⇢

Shady shenanigans were required to make final payments on Auditorium

33

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⇠ had made the deal with Weston Adams and he was manager of the parent club, but that president wasn’t having any of that,” said McLean.

“He told Scotty that ‘Weston Adams has just one vote at the directors’ table and the directors had voted and they wanted their #&%$#*! money back,’” McLean said with a chuckle.

Apparently the phone call lasted just a few minutes, but the end result was that Munro informed the Bruin president that “you’ll get your #$%&**# money back to-morrow morning,” and he hung up.

The Estevan Bruin hockey men-tor found himself in a very immediate tight spot, since he obviously didn’t have $40,000 in loose change hanging around.

Just about then, another Bruin execu-tive member arrived on the scene and the dilemma was explained to him and as the two Bruin offi cials were walking and talk-ing about this latest development, Wally Morine, who happened to be a Bruin fan and supporter, as well as the manager of the

newly-built ElksLodge in Estevan, came rambling down the hill from the Westview area of the city.

The two Bruin offi cials decided to share their problem with Morine who ex-pressed some sympathy with their plight, informing them that he too, didn’t have much money, but he had the next best thing ... a plan to get it.

It seems that in those early days of oil patch rumbles and tumbles, the Elks Lodge found it to their advantage to install some real Las Vegas style slot machines in the clubrooms. The machines were proving to be very popular but were also on the verge of being shut down and removed since they were illegal in the province of Saskatch-ewan.

“Wally told Scotty that he had an idea, but it would fi rst have to be run past Po-lice Chief Harry Casswell and Mayor Harry Nicholson. The idea, of course, was to keep the slot machines going and use the profi ts to pay for the roof,” said McLean.

“All through the meeting, ⇢

34

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⇠ Casswell kept shaking his head, saying it was a ‘highly unlikely’ proposition and highly unusual request,” said McLean, but neither public offi cial uttered a defi nite no-way Jose edict. So the Bruin brain trust and Morine took that as a positive response and the slot machines stayed in operation, pour-ing out some winnings for the slot players on occasion and pouring out enough profi t

to pay for the roof in a timely fashion. McLean swears it’s true and states he

fi gures there are still a few of those infa-mous slot machines sitting around Estevan somewhere, maybe in a basement or fam-ily room, serving as a conversation piece and a memory for some of the pioneers of Estevan’s early days in the junior hockey business.

As part of the Spectra Place construction the fi t-ness room at the SVALC was doubled in size. Earlier this year City staff installed over $80,000 worth of new equipment.

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