The opening of the expanded Terrace Sportsplex, combined with a tremendous show of community and regional support, have placed the City of Terrace on the verge of being the first Western Canadian City to earn the coveted title of “Kraft Hockeyville 2009”.
The contributed $3 million toward the $10 million Terrace Sportsplex project, which opened on November 7th, 2008 after many years of lobbying, referendums and planning by the City of Terrace.
The project upgrades include a new building to house a second sheet of ice, an ice resurfacer to be shared by both rinks, additional spectator seating for 400, five additional change rooms, new washrooms and a 2,000 square foot multi-purpose area for meetings, conventions and events. A retrofit of the existing facility enables the recaptured thermal energy from both rinks to be used in the current facility and the adjacent aquatic centre.
The Terrace Sportsplex is the cornerstone for Terrace’s “Hockeyville 2009” campaign. In addition, several successful events have already been hosted with more planned in 2009 and 2010.
“The success of the Sportsplex as an event facility has greatly exceeded our expectations”, said City of Terrace Mayor David Pernarowski. “The ability to host recent events such as the Municipal Governance Training Sessions, which were the largest sessions held in BC, and the hosting of the Regional Figure Skating Championships would not have been possible without the expanded facilities.”
CBC’s Cassie Campbell, Carol Fielding, Communications Director – Terrace Is Hockeyville, Terrace Mayor David Pernarowski and CBC’s Kirk McLean – Vancouver Canuck’s legendary goalie announce Terrace as a Top 5 finalist in "Kraft’s Hockeyville 2009”
Upcoming major events hosted at the Sportsplex include the Coy Cup (Canada’s Senior Men’s Hockey Championships) from March 2nd -7th, the BC Elders Gathering on Behalf of the Nisga’a Nation Elders from July 13th -15th where up to 3,500 participants are expected, and the 2010 BC Winter Games.
In addition to the hometown pride and bragging rights that come with being crowned “Kraft Hockeyville 2009”, Terrace, if successful, will host an NHL pre-season game at the Sportsplex, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada will visit Terrace and the City of Terrace will receive $100,000 from Kraft to further upgrade the Sportsplex.
“The Sportsplex expansion has played a huge role in mobilizing support for Terrace as Hockeyville 2009”, said Carol Fielding, Terrace Is Hockeyville’s Communications Director. "If we are successful, the Terrace Is Hockeyville Committee and the City of Terrace will work together to determine how to invest the $100,000 into the Sportsplex”.
As part of the 2009 Hockeyville contest, at the end of January, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada sent Cassie Campbell and Kirk McLean to Terrace to announce that Terrace was a Top 5 finalist. As Campbell posted on her CBC Blog, “The arena was jam-packed for the three days we were there, the endless list of activities really brought the community together and showcased why they are so passionate about hockey.”
Fans jam-pack the Terrace Sportsplex in support
of the “Terrace Is Hockeyville” campaign
The final voting period for "Kraft Hockeyville 2009" ends tomorrow – Wednesday, March 4th at 10:30pm. The Northern Development Board and staff are strong supporters of the City of Terrace in their bid to become “Kraft Hockeyville 2009” and the Board encourages every person in the region and throughout British Columbia to cast their vote in support of this great community initiative.
Vote for Terrace via any or all of the following three (3) methods:
- Online at www.cbcsports.ca/hockeyville
- Via toll free telephone 1-866-533-8066
- By SMS text messaging the word VOTE and TERRACE name to 222111 (standard text message rates apply to messages sent and received)
You can vote as many times as you like, so please, vote often!
