Ald. Robert Dumanowski, Ald. Les Pearson, former Mayor Norm Boucher, Ald. John Hamill, and Ald. Ted Clugston, now Mayor, take part in the Medicine Hat Regional Event Centre Sod Turning in Box Springs Business Park on Sept. 19, 2013.
Construction continues on the Regional Events Centre. July 10, 2014
Canalta Centre puts Medicine Hat on the map
TERRI EGER
With the opening of the Canalta Centre on Sept. 1, 2015, the spotlight turned to Medicine Hat.
“We came of age when that building opened,” said Medicine Hat Mayor Ted Clugston.
Debated for a number of years, the building was completed on budget, ahead of schedule, and has attracted positive attention locally and beyond.
“People are commenting that they feel like they are in a big city now,” said Clugston.
Visitors from Calgary have even reported that the location of the facility, its amenities and parking make it more enjoyable to head to Medicine Hat for an event than remain in their own city.
“The staff has done an excellent job of learning the building and getting the operational components up and running,” said General Manager Peter Jelinski.
In the initial months of operation the building has hosted major events such as concerts, comedians, monster trucks and the Alberta Winter Games. This wide range of entertainment is in addition to being the home ice for the Medicine Hat Tigers, the local Western Hockey League team. With 36 home games scheduled for the season, that’s no small feat for the venue that is drawing more than 4,000 fans per game.
“We’d love to sell more seats. It's a great venue to watch a game in so come on out Medicine Hat,” invited Jelinski.
Through the initial months of operation Canalta Centre staff offered a variety of entertainment options.
“We are learning what the community wants to see,” said Kelli Ireland, Director of Marketing and Sales.
40
“We are seeking out new events and different types of entertainment,” said Jelinski. “We know it can’t always be about music so we are offering lots of options.”
The people of Medicine Hat and surrounding area are paying attention to what’s taking place at The Centre.
“We have the eyes and ears of the community,” said Jelinski. “People are listening to what we are saying.”
A long list of exciting entertainment is already on the calendar for The Centre with Hedley and Johnny Reid concerts, Jeff Dunham ventriloquist act and The Price Is Right game show among them.
“The Price Is Right brings a whole new demographic to The Centre,” said Jelinski.
With the Jeff Dunham show set to sell out a month before the performer was scheduled to take the stage the staff is doing something right.
“Finding the right balance of artist, time of year and ticket price is important,” said Ireland.
A slowdown in the economy and a drop in the Canadian dollar has created some challenges for event organizers who are often sourcing talent from south of the border but it’s not slowing the Canalta Centre down.
“Our job is to find ways to fill the building despite that,” said Jelinski. “We’ve got a lot of ideas and plans we are implementing.”
Learning what the building can accommodate and promoting the various options is an exciting challenge for staff.
“There are a lot of new business opportunities for us,” said Ireland. Business conferences, weddings, graduations and wine and food events are just a few of the possibilities for the building.
“What would happen if we held a movie night on our fabulous jumbotron? These are all things we are looking into.”
Operating a major facility the size and scope of the Canalta Centre is not without its challenges but the staff is
handling this initial months of operation well.
“We have a great team that operates in an efficient manner,” said Jelinski.
With 17 full-time and 125 casual, event-based staff on the payroll that’s a lot going on behind the scenes.
“The first few events were not without stress but we’ve come together now,” said the team leader. “We do what we do, and we do it well.”
Ireland agrees that there has been a learning curve to operating the largest venue in Medicine Hat history.
“There are a lot of moving parts to the facility,” she said. “There was and will be growing pains but we are learning every day and improving service as we go.”
Improvements come down to attention to even the smallest of details such as drink service and availability. Just one example of how the staff is responding to the needs of customers is the fact that the No. 1 drink in Medicine Hat is a caesar, information The Centre acted on.
“We built a stand alone caesar bar because it's more efficient to serve this specialty drink in one location,” said Ireland. “We are learning what the people of Medicine Hat want and we are working to accommodate them.”
Through The Centre’s ticket master system, staff is able to track ticket purchases. Reports show that visitors are travelling from across Alberta and Saskatchewan to attend performances. The economic impact of these visits is a positive thing for the community and is not going unnoticed.
“The amount of money visitors are bringing into the community is huge,” said Jelinski. “There was $750 worth of pizza bought after one show and that's happening all the time.”
While in the city for events, fans are touring Medicine Hat and planning their next visit.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100