Residents of Steinbach and the Southeast are being invited to get a look at the new Southeast Event Centre at the day long official grand opening on Thursday, August 21st. The day of activities begins with the official opening at 11am and really is being billed as a community celebration. And it should be.
While many have already visited the Event Centre to either watch a few Steinbach Pistons games at the end of their last season or for some of the events and ceremonies that have already taken place within the arena bowl, the opening will show off another aspect of the Centre. Always intended to be a multi-functional facility that is more than an arena, visitors at the opening will get a better sense of the community gathering place it will be, complete with a gymnasium, walking track, restaurant, children’s play area and other amenities.
What won’t be as obvious looking at the physical structure is the vision that it took to see the Events Centre move from a dream to a reality. For many years there was a discussion about not only whether Steinbach needed such a facility at all, but also what type of facility it should be and where it should be located. A number of different plans were discussed, each with their merits and their drawbacks. Ultimately, the current Centre came together at a time where there was buy in from all three levels of government and, most importantly, private investment that had a vision for the facility and community.
And even though many previous proposed projects or visions did not come to fruition, each played a role in getting this project done as they not only kept the conversation moving but built momentum for the need for a new gathering place for the community.
The grand opening on August 21st will be a celebration of all of those who have seen the need for such a facility as well as those, today and in the future, who will benefit from it. But it is more than that. It is also a very real demonstration of what can be achieved when there is a collective will and the persistence to see something done. It is also a reminder that in a city such as Steinbach, which is growing and developing, there needs to be places and spaces that can host large events and where people can come together indoors to participate in sports and other activities.
It also shows that the ability of the community and the region has few limits where there is a collective will and how important that collective will is. It is an expression that I have heard Winnipeg Jets owner Mark Chipman make at public events where he reminds people that in communities like Winnipeg or in a province like Manitoba, there isn’t a cavalry that is coming to provide assistance for most things and that what we achieve we do so because of the initiative of those who call it home.
The Southeast Event Centre is a demonstration of that initiative of generations of local residents. And it should be looked at not as the completion of something but the continuation. Because there is a need for other projects and community gathering places that add to the quality of life of those who live here today and those who will call it home in the future. The grand opening on August 21st should be a celebration of what has been achieved, and what else could be.
