A glimmer of financial hope for the Canalta Centre

By Letter to the Editor on March 9, 2018.

No offense intended to the artist, but I just couldn’t resist this opportunity to share my view of that frequently empty arena, the Canalta Centre. So, in my tongue-in-cheek opinion, although I have no problem with the buffalo artwork, three large white elephants, (one for every year of the new arena’s existence) would more appropriately symbolize my personal $75M “white elephant image”of the Canalta Centre. However, coincidentally, taxpayers really were kind of “buffaloed” into accepting the related cost and questionable location, as I recall).

Continuing to reinforce my white elephant image, is the low hockey fan attendance, recently less per game than the 4,000-seat capacity of the old arena! However, it is now time to bite the bullet, and accept reality. It is what it is! So, accordingly, other than the buffalo artwork recommended for the Canalta Centre from a non-local artist, I was pleased to read that the artist is of Indigenous heritage.

Finally, on a more positive note, I can see a glimmer of financial hope for the Canalta Centre. The coming Cirque du Soliel Crystal show in May, will likely fill the centre to capacity, with many non-locals arriving from all over southern Alberta and Saskatchewan for this five-day, eight-performance event. This reasonably priced show will not be performing in Lethbridge, Calgary or Regina, so hopefully the performances will attract many from surrounding locations.

Sincere congratulations to the team that successfully brought this high quality show to our Medicine Hat Events Centre. Keep up the good work!