With the spring of 2011 just around the corner, the major event of spring 2012 is on the minds of many.
Humboldt's 2012 RBC Cup host committee has been quiet about their plans for the upcoming national junior A hockey championships, which will take place next May. But as the tournament gets closer, more preparations for it are now getting underway.
On March 8, the committee had a site visit from representatives of Hockey Canada.
According to host committee co-chair Lee Dufort, Kevin Webster of Hockey Canada met with the entire host committee to unveil an online hosting resource, which the Humboldt committee will be the first one to use, along with a new ticketing system which will allow people to buy tickets online.
Humboldt's event will use this ticketing system once it is set up, Dufort noted.
"We're still ironing out the details," he stated.
Webster was also taken on a tour of the Humboldt Uniplex, specifically the Elgar Petersen Arena, the host facility for the national championship. The group looked the facility over and reported on the changes that will be made by the time of the tournament.
Dufort was pleased with comments that Webster made regarding the Humboldt event.
In an email to the committee, Webster stated that "We got a lot accomplished and have no doubt we are in good shape to host a great RBC Cup in Humboldt."
"Overall, it was a good visit," Dufort felt. "Everything is progressing as planned. Stay tuned for more ticket details."
Renovation plans
Though the bulk of the Elgar Petersen Arena is considered suitable to host the RBC Cup in 2012, there are some changes that need to be made in order for it to meet RBC regulations, noted Darrell Lessmeister, director of Leisure Services for the City of Humboldt.
For instance, some of the dressing rooms in the building need to be made larger to accommodate junior-aged teams.
The city plans to install a rolling door between dressing rooms two and three, located in the south-west corner of the arena. By installing this rolling door, the rooms can be split into two smaller spaces or, by simply opening the door, made into one large room.
On the north side of the rink, the city is going to remove a washroom to expand dressing room five. They can do that now, Lessmeister explained, because of the new bathrooms which will be installed in the main lobby area currently under renovation. Before, the building code for the ratio of spectators to bathrooms prevented them from expanding this dressing room into the public bathroom area.
The city is also working with the Humboldt Broncos on a possible expansion of their dressing room, he added.
The major renovation above the stands involves the media gondola.
The present media area/announcer's box is too small, Lessmeister noted.
The plan is to install another skybox to the west of the current media box. It will likely look similar to the one that is already there, with the same kind of layout and accessed by the same staircase from the upper level of the arena, Lessmeister explained.
Both old and new media boxes will be needed for the RBC Cup, in order to accommodate the television, radio and Internet media crews.
After the RBC, the second box likely won't be needed any longer, Lessmeister said, so they plan to work with the Humboldt Broncos and other user groups and offer it as a corporate box.
If there are more corporations interested in their own skyboxes in the arena, the city may look at putting more in, he added, but they still have to determine whether the building, which was not designed for these structures, will be able to hold that load.
The plan right now is to get al of these renovations to the arena done between April and August. But, Lessmeister indicated, that all depends on the availability of contractors and tradespeople.
The projects have yet to be tendered out.
The City is currently working with an architectural firm to get drawings for some of the changes, and has had structural engineers inspect the building, especially in the areas around the new media gondola and beneath the bleachers, where the bulk of the work will take place.
Meanwhile, the city's current construction project at the Uniplex - renovating the lobby areas of the arena, aquatic centre and curling rink and adding a link to the new Humboldt Collegiate Institute - is still underway. A completion date of November of this year has been set for the entire project, including the school.
"It will definitely be ready for the RBC Cup," Lessmeister said.
The city is working with the contractor, who is trying to determine if parts of the building can be certified and opened to the public ahead of other parts. If that can happen, the lobby area could be opened to the public for the fall, instead of waiting for the entire school to be completed.
"We're looking into it. That has not been determined at this point," Lessmeister said.
