New Arena for Grand Falls

As I mentioned in a previous post a new arena is under construction in Grand Falls. A very kind friend of mine took a few minutes out of his busy day to take a few pictures. He also gave me a more accurate latitude and longitude from his GPS receiver. Here are the photos of the "Centre E. et P. Sénéchal Center":

2009 "Black and Yellow" JV Basketball Tournament

Fredericton High School (FHS) will be holding their annual "Black and Yellow" basketball tournament for junior varsity boys and girls. Games will begin at 1 pm on Jan 9th in the Fredericton High School main gym and also at the Leo Hayes High School gym. A total of 12 teams will take part in the tournament:

Boys:

• FHS JV Black Kats
• BMHS JV Highlanders
• KVHS JV Boys
• LHHS JV Lions
• SHS JV Sonics
• WHS JV Quiznos Thunder

Girls:

• FHS JV Lady Black Kats
• BMHS JV Girls
• CNHS Smith Drugs JV Stars
• LHHS JV Lady Lions
• SMMHS JV Girls
• WHS JV Girls

The official tournament website has been launched at: blackandyellow.110mb.com.

New Brunswick School Directory

Do you have a sporting event scheduled at a New Brunswick public school? The Department of Education has created a very nice search tool for all of the NB public schools. Just type in part of the school's name and you'll get the address, phone numbers, school district number, school website, and the name of the administrators.

I would like to create a map of all of the gymnasiums in NB. Most of the public schools have a gymnasium. Until I have the time to create a map for gymnasiums this search tool will help fill the gap.

New Ice Arena for Edmundston??

When the Edmundston Forum was torn down I was under the impression that it would be replaced by a new ice arena in the multi sport centre. I have the location marked on the ice arena map as "Future Site of New Arena". I had been following the progress of the project on a website - www.notrecentremulti.com - but the website appears to have disappeared. According to the WayBack Machine the website was last "seen" in the fall of 2007. Can anyone help me out with some information on this project? You can leave a comment below or contact me.

Update 2008-10-24:

Hi Bernie,

the project has indeed been put on the back burner, but the new council want to proceed with a new arena as quickly as possible... we're always at the mercy of government subsidies...

Mychèle Poitras

Communications

Ville de / City of Edmundston

NB Sport Spots updates

I recently reviewed all of the external websites that I link to from NB Sport Spots. Some links change and some websites just disappear. I updated and corrected as many links as I could. I used the Dead-Links website to validate all of the URLs. The only information I collect for each facility is:

• the name of the facility
  
• its location (latitude and longitude)
• its street address
• and a website
  

My only goal with NB Sport Spots is to help you find a sport facility. In case you need more information (like a phone number or hours of operation) I try to find a website for each sport facility. Many facilities don't have a dedicated website but I try to find the best link available.

Please help me keep the links up to date. If you notice a broken link or if you find a better link please contact me.

Ice Arena Update for Fredericton

A few weeks ago Tony Hay, Assistant Director of Community Services for Fredericton gave me an update on the new arena for Fredericton's Southside. The site preparation near the intersection of Kimble and Alison has begun but the design of the building is still not complete. They are still planning to have an NHL ice surface and an Olympic ice surface. The projected opening date is Fall 2010. The York Arena on Fredericton's Northside will remain open until the new arena is completed.

At the end of the 2006-07 season the Fredericton Coliseum was closed - well it was kind of closed. The city stopped operating the ice arena but the building is owned by the Fredericton Exhibition. In an unrelated incident the curlers were voted out of the Fredericton Golf and Curling Club. The curlers quickly took up residence in the Coliseum. So the Coliseum is still open but it is now the home of the Fredericton Curling Club (FCC). The FCC has been in continuous existence since 1854. I am guessing that the webmaster for the Fredericton Golf and Curling Club was a curler. Ever since the two clubs split the golf club has not had a website but the curling club does have a website. By the way, the building that housed the curling rink at the Fredericton Golf Club is now being used to store golf carts over the winter.

Do you have any ice arena news from your community? If you do you can leave a comment on this story and I'll get in touch.

New Ice Arenas under construction in New Brunswick

I am aware of two communities in NB that have new ice arenas currently under construction. The first is Fredericton Junction.
Ground was broken for the Tri-County Complex on August 11th, 2008. The completion date is not known at this time. The complex will include:

• an NHL size artificial ice surface with six fully equipped dressing rooms and seating for approximately 450;
• an indoor walking track;
• a fitness center;
• a mezzanine with multi-purpose rooms;
• a canteen; and
• a special events and meeting room.

I believe "Tri-County" refers to the counties of Sunbury, Queens, and Charlotte. The Tri-County Complex will be located on Prides Landing Road adjacent to the existing sports fields. Fredericton Junction currently does not have an ice arena.


The second community with a new arena under construction is Grand Falls. Grand Falls is building the E. & P. Sénéchal Centre. Located on Ouellette Street, near the Toyota dealership, the E. & P. Sénéchal Centre will consist of one ice rink, 1200 seats, a walking track and an exercising room. The centre will also be available for conferences, exhibitions and shows.

Rooms are foreseen to hold seminars and training sessions for the commercial, industrial and professional sectors. These rooms will be equipped with the latest audio-visual technology and internet access. They will also be available for business meetings.

Grand Falls already operates one ice arena - the Grand Falls Stadium. No decision has been made on the future of the old Stadium when the new Centre is opened.

The snow is leaving - Golf is coming

Well spring has finally come again and the snow will soon be gone. There may not be any snow on the ground in Southern NB but you can be sure there is still snow in the forests of Northern NB. Golf season has already begun on some courses. I heard the Sussex Golf Course opened on April 17th! When did your favorite NB Golf Course open this season? Let us know in the comments.

The Kay Arena - Reborn

The people of Lewisville (a former village amalgamated with Moncton in 1973) should be proud of their efforts to retain a community arena in their neighbourhood. The original Kay Arena and an adjacent school were demolished and the new Kay Arena was erected on the same site. I drove past the new Kay Arena in mid-December but it was still under construction. For more details and some history on the original arena please read Alan Cochrane's story that appeared in the February 15th edition of the Moncton Times and Transcript.

The Kay Arena can still be found at 99 Wynwood Drive and the phone number is 506-877-7715. And of course you can always find a map of the Kay Arena at the NB Sport Spots ice arena map.

NB Sport Spots Hit Count

The website traffic has been picking up lately. It looks like most of the traffic has been directed toward the Ice Arena listings. That makes sense because the ice arenas were the original data set and the only data set for the first year or two. It also makes sense because it is the season for Ice Arenas. I am hoping that some of the ice arena visitors will turn into Golf Course visitors when the weather turns warmer. But while it is still freezing cold in New Brunswick don't forget about the Curling Rink listings and Ski Hill listings. The graph to the right shows the website traffic for the last 12 weeks. Click on the graph for a larger view.

Fredericton Honours Willie O'Ree

On January 16th the City of Fredericton renamed it's new ice arena complex. The Northside Sport and Leisure Centre opened only one year ago. It houses two ice surfaces, an indoor walking track, three rooms for community use, canteens operated by the Nashwaaksis Y's Men Club, the Fredericton YMCA Northside Wellness Centre, and a seasonal youth centre and indoor skateboard park. It is the finest ice arena I have ever visited. The NB Sport Spots ice arena map can be viewed here.

Yesterday it was renamed in honor of Willlie O'Ree - the first black man to play in an NHL game. The new name of the facility is "Willie O'Ree Place" or "place Willie O'Ree" en francais. I like to abbreviate the name to "WORP" when I am writing down my son's hockey schedule.

Willie O'Ree was called up to join the Boston Bruins in Montreal in a game aginst the Canadians on January 18th, 1958. Despite being nearly blind in one eye Willie played a total of 45 NHL games and he played in the minors until the age of 43. Willie grew up in Fredericton and was the youngest of 12 children. There were only two black families living in Fredericton at the time.

Check out more information on Willie O'Ree at Wikipedia.

When to drive and when to stay

Winter driving conditions have placed many of us in the very same situation as the coach of the Bathurst High Phantoms Men's basketball team. Sometimes staying off the road and finding accomodations for the night is the best choice.

I will be taking my sons to several out-of-town tournaments over the next few months. The fateful accident in Bathurst will be heavy on my mind as I am planning our travel. Here is a new link to help you make the best winter driving decisions:

http://nbsportspots.googlepages.com/home26