Tours give look at 50 years of arena history

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on October 24, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

For 50 years, it’s given visitors from across southern Alberta and around the world great views of world-class sporting events, concerts and other entertainment spectacles.

And for two days, free public tours are being given of the newly renamed VisitLethbridge.com Arena which showcase the venue’s history since it was built for the 1975 Canada Winter Games.

Hour-long tours ran yesterday and will be staged today at 1 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 2:45 p.m. 4 p.m., 4:25 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 5:40 p.m., 5:45 p.m., 6 p.m., and 6:15 p.m. Entry is through the northeast doors.

No registration is required for this engaging free event which includes five stops that highlight key moments in the arena’s history, ranging from sports and entertainment.

Media on Wednesday were given a preview of the tour by Events Manager Becky Little.

One highlight of the tour for visitors will be photographs of the numerous artists who have performed at the venue from its days when it was known as the Canada Games Sportsplex, a name that remained until the City sold sponsorship rights for the first time in 2000 and the name Enmax Centre was emblazoned upon the building for more than two decades.

The naming rights were sold this again when it became VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

Names such as Nickleback, KISS, April Wine, Toby Keith, Don Williams, Anne Murray, The Rankin Family, John Mellencamp, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, The Bee Gees, Loverboy, Great Big Sea, Michelle Wright, Keith Urban, Elton John, Englebert Humperdinck, Freddy Fender, Alan Jackson, Weird Al Yankovic, Roger Whittaker, Daniel O’Donnell, the Harlem Globetrotters, Roy Orbison, Lonestar, Gordon Lightfoot, Donny Osmond, Marie Osmond, and Bobby Goldsboro are just a few of those many artists whose concerts fans may remember when they take a long, slow look at the images of artists alive and long departed.

The first concert at the venue was headlined by the Doobie Brothers who also performed in the early 2000s.

“This facility has been through a number of transitions now since its inception in 1975,” said Little.

Since a 2012 rededication, the small theatre configuration was added with the first show being a performance by British rockers The Cult in 2016. This configuration, said Little, is a bridge between the Yates Centre and a performing arts centre. This configuration has a capacity ranging between 600 to 1,100 which is a leap from the 475 seats at the Yates Centre, Little said.

The venue also has a third floor Canadian Western Bank lounge where a number of events have been hosted including one for the Imperial Princess of Japan and others featuring astronauts, book signings, a leadership conference and even Wayne Gretzky.

“We’ve had a lot of fantastic opportunities to use the facility in ways that are more than just a sportsplex,” said Little.

In the early days of the venue, a speedskating rink existed where the east parking lot is now. Then a football field was situated in that space.

In November, the Galt Museum, said Little, will have an exhibit on the history of the 1975 winter games. Photographs and a scrapbook was discovered that showcases a lot of the Lethbridge Herald images that were taken at the time, she said.

One concession area, said Little, originally just sold popcorn. The space had four popcorn makers and four people making it. Now popcorn is sold in all of the arena’s concessions.

On the lower floor, the remnants of the four-lane running track can still be seen painted into the concrete. Also on that floor at one time were four racquetball courts at the north end of the venue, two which could be converted to play squash. A climbing wall was also in the building in the 1990s before being moved to the University of Lethbridge when the sport and wellness centre was opened.

Since the building was opened, it’s only had four general managers in its history. The first was Ray Lambert, followed by Ashley Matthews, Kim Gallucci and now acting GM Jennifer Norsworthy.

In addition to sports and concerts, the venue has hosted dirt biking, monster trucks and the Professional Bullriding Association, noted Little. The venue was also home for two years to the Alberta Dusters professional basketball team which moved to Las Vegas.

It has also the high school provincial basketball championships for a number of years, the Skate Canada International event and the Imagine Cheer and Dance competition, the arena which has played an influential role in helping cheer become a global sport, said Little.

It has also hosted all four major curling events including the Scotties twice.

When visitors take the tour today, they will hear all of this information plus other stories about the iconic southern Alberta entertainment venue.