WESTLOCK – Ten years into its existence, the Rotary Spirit Centre is one of the gems of Westlock, a fact not lost on current mayor Ralph Leriger who took occasion to thank the men and women responsible for making it a reality.
The $19.7-million facility opened to great fanfare July 16, 2012, with then-mayor Bruce Lennon telling the crowd of 1,000 onlookers, “This is not just an arena, not just a fieldhouse, but a meeting place in the community.”
His words have been prophetic, as throughout the years the facility, which covers 97,000 square feet, has hosted everything from major events like provincial hockey and ringette championships and massive fundraisers like Rainbow for the Future’s Sports for Ethiopia, to weekly minor hockey games in the winter and lacrosse tilts in the spring, plus the adult volleyball and pickleball leagues.
But it’s also hosted graduation ceremonies and concerts, zone volleyball and basketball tournaments, and just this past week the circus filled the arena for a pair of shows.
But building the facility, which happened before Leriger’s first term as mayor in 2013, was no easy feat. From Westlock County not contributing any capital dollars, to the contractor going into receivership during construction in 2010, the project had its share of struggles. Plebiscites were also held in both the county and town on the fate of the building — county residents voted against, while town residents were in favour — while the final construction cost ballooned by roughly $3 million.
Ultimately, the town never wavered, and the community responded with $1.6M raised by the Friends of the Spirit Centre for construction, plus $250,000 from the Westlock Rotary Club for naming rights. CAO Simone Wiley, who’s been with the town since 2014, said they owe a debt to the “great community champions who saw it though” adding that Westlock is “absolutely fortunate to have it.” Lennon, in a 2020 interview, admitted they took “some political heat and political chances to get it built” but said it was worthwhile as “ … it’s been great for the community and surrounding area.”
“I have to applaud the organizing committee that spearheaded the project and of course the council of the day for their vision and their perseverance for seeing it through and the Rotary Club,” added Leriger. “It’s become a huge part of our community, it’s our gathering place. Rec centres are about the wellbeing of a community. And at this one, every time you go, you see young and old, engaged and active. And that’s the secret to a happy and healthy life, staying active.”
This past Saturday, the town celebrated the 10-year anniversary with a free barbeque and recreation showcase from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., then held a special showing of the movie Sing 2, with Wiley saying they had thought about doing a formal ceremony but instead decided to simply “celebrate the building and give out some food.” She added that following two tough years of ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions that “was hard on the community” and at times forced the facility to close, users have been flooding back.
“As a small town I don’t know if you could look at another community with 5,000 people in it that has the same calibre of facility as the Spirit Centre,” said Wiley. “It far exceeds other communities of similar size. We hear it from people all the time when they come to town, and they tell us they did not expect to see something like this here.”
Leriger said Westlock is fortunate to have a host of fabulous rec facilities in addition to the RSC, like the aquatic centre and skate park. The indoor pool too had its share of detractors when first constructed more than 30 years ago but has been well used by the generations since.
“In our strategic plan our goal is that we’re the recreation destination of choice for recreational amenities. We’re a town of big-city amenities and these are facilities that we should and need to be very proud of,” he continued. “We spent a lot of time at the pool over my past two terms making sure it’s going to have another 30 years of life. And go by the parking lot, it’s busy all the time. What a problem to have.”
Continued maintenance, notes Wiley, will be key in ensuring the RSC lasts another 40 years as since its construction the town has added air conditioning and installed a $1.2 million 625 kW solar panel array in 2020.
“We’re all about asset management and being proactive in our maintenance to achieve the maximum of useful life out of this facility. It’s fitting that we’re intending to tear down Jubilee Arena in the same year that the Spirit Centre is hitting its 10th year,” said Wiley.
Jubilee on track for demo
The story of the RSC though won’t be complete until Jubilee Arena, the facility it replaced, meets its end.
The town has budgeted $1 million for its demolition and site reclamation, with Wiley saying a tender will go out for that project in the next handful of weeks. Since the opening of the RSC, Jubilee has stood as a silent sentinel, serving as a cold-storage facility that at times housed old emergency vehicles and other equipment.
“Our engineering firm has put together a request for proposals and we had to do some more hazardous materials testing which was done a little while ago just to make sure the contractors who are going to bid on it know what needs to be done to tear it down and how to dispose of it,” said Wiley.
Leriger, who was born and raised in Westlock, remembers when the Westlock and District Jubilee Family Recreation Centre opened on July 13, 1963, saying it replaced the community’s primary outdoor rink.
Jubilee, which cost $75,744 to build, was one of a handful of major builds in the community from 1962-1964 which saw the construction of the current county administration building, the auxiliary hospital and St. Mary School. Work started on the project in late 1962 when the structural concrete was poured and then cured over the winter. The first hockey game at the rink, which was played on natural ice, was Dec. 29, 1963.
“We used to play hockey on an outdoor rink and it ran east to west and it kind of sat right about where the fieldhouse is now,” Leriger recalled.
He said once Jubilee is gone and the parking lot is expanded and additional landscaping is done, residents will finally see the “full vision” for the RSC. Jubilee was supposed to be leveled in 2012, but those plans were shelved following the discovery of asbestos — a report that year stated that 16 of 26 building-material samples tested positive for the substance. That same year the town also stated they had budgeted $200,000-$300,000 for the demolition, but hadn’t taken the possibility of asbestos into account, so it was left standing.
Council then talked about demolishing the building in late 2018 and briefly considered renovating it for use as a warm-storage facility. But when faced with a $1 million price tag for that work, or $900,000 to simply demolish it, council balked and put the issue on the backburner.
“It’s all going to come full circle. And really the way the Spirit Centre was designed, Jubilee has to come down. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen people rattling the doors of Jubilee or curling rink trying to get in,” said Leriger. “We’ll get the parking lot we need and then we’ll get the visual that the entire site was meant to have.”
