The infamous sign from The Arena hangs in the refurbished Tigers Den at Co-op Place. The fan corner also features a row of seats from the former home of the Tigers and will have drink specials at tonight's game against the Red Deer Rebels.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Co-op Place is paying homage to the former home of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Tigers Den, located at the bottom of Section B, has been upgraded to include relics from The Arena, including the infamous exterior sign that was removed in February and now hangs prominently in Co-op Place.
“I’ve been looking at that sign since I was five years old, so it goes back a long time, and then to bring it back years later, it’s awesome,” Co-op Place operations supervisor Kevin Nugent said.
The upgrades to the first-come, first-served section also included a row of seats from The Arena, fastened to a wall and functional for any fans looking to relive the feel. That same wall features a print of the ‘smartie’ seats and a replica of the old boards from the rink.
On the concourse level, a trophy case has been filled with Tigers’ team trophies and other pieces they want to display.
The upgrades and display of Tigers pride in Co-op Place, which opened in 2015, has been a long time coming, manager of event operations Derek Schesnuk says. He says the city, the rink and the Tigers have been working together to make it possible, with more to come.
“For too long this venue’s had a lack of personality and we’re really trying to turn a corner here and take a new direction,” Schesnuk said. “We’ve had unprecedented collaboration between the Tigers and the City of Medicine Hat over the past 10 months and we’ll continue that. We’ll continue to look to upgrade and promote improvements in the venue, enhance premium experiences and be able to showcase our venue across the league.”
Schesnuk credits the city’s operation departments, ERB Construction, the Esplanade and Boylan Imaging for helping make the upgrades possible. The Tigers Den will receive more upgrades as the year goes on, Schesnuk says, with more TVs to be put up on walls and more team memorabilia to be displayed.
“It’s just nice that we were finally starting to give this facility an identity, which it’s been lacking for so many years,” Nugent said. “Now people are going to come here and they’re going to see exactly where they’re playing, which they haven’t been able to see before.”
He says they plan to continue work around Co-op Place to give it the feel of being the home of the Tigers, adding to the hard-earned banners that hang in the rafters.
“Just help bring some life to not just the Tigers Den event level space, but to the main concourse, suite level and exterior venue improvements,’ Schesnuk said. “We’re not just going to stop inside one room, we’re going to keep keep this thing moving .”
Tonight’s game against the Red Deer Rebels will feature discounts in the Tigers Den for fans looking to take in the upgrades. There will be free popcorn for the first 100 fans in the Den, $1 off draft beer all night and domestic cans to be sold at $5 from 6-8 p.m.
