Ten years

Wellington and District Community Centre reaches milestone anniversary

There should have been a gala celebration for the Wellington and District Community Centre’s 10th anniversary this coming weekend. An acknowledgement of the vital role it has assumed in the life of the County. It is not just an arena where the hometown junior hockey team plays—and in the case of the Dukes, wins far more often than not. It’s where people gather to learn about what is going on in the County, from flood preparation plans, to transportation issues, to addressing food insecurity. It’s where community dances are held, wedding receptions, vaccination clinics, fundraising events, craft and artisans shows, and family fun days where you can find a magician or a face-painter or even an inflatable dragon.

Planning for the new arena and community centre began around 2008 after a study late in 2007 determined it was not feasible to rehabilitate the old Duke Dome. Two committees were struck— one dealing with site and design and the other dealing with fundraising—under the umbrella of an overall steering committee staffed by council members. Nancy Parks was on both the design and fundraising committees. She said that during the design phase user groups were asked to list their priorities, and then provide another list of what could be taken away if funding didn’t materialize. One requirement was that the hall be large enough to accommodate the biggest events in the County, something that has proven its worth during these COVID times, as it has provided a safe venue for socially distanced meetings or information sessions. They also asked for things like a walking track on the upper level, and an elevator to make it fully accessible, not really believing it would be approved. “It was so much fun, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to get all the things we asked for. Well, it came back and we went, ‘Oh my gosh, they accepted it!’ Everything that we wanted. So that’s why it’s such a wonderful facility,” she said. It turned out that the timing of the project was entirely fortuitous, with both the federal and provincial governments eager to hand out money for infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy after the 2008 financial crisis. “Once the County made it a priority to go forward, we had to submit plans to get funds from the province and the federal government and the community,” said then-councillor Jim Dunlop, who was a major driving force on this project. “That all came out of the hat from people who had experience filling out government forms. In 10 days we put together what the costs were going to be and with a little bit of help from everybody it all worked out.”

The project was budgeted at $12 million, with $4 million each from the federal and provincial governments, $2.5 million from the County, and $1.5 million to be raised in the community. “The fundraising committee was a real positive team effort,” said Nancy Parks. “Jim Dunlop was the powerhouse for that committee. He used to say that he’d be walking down the street in Wellington, and people would cross the street to avoid him because they knew he was going to ask for money. The fundraising all happened within the year, which was amazing for that kind of money back then.” Nancy Baldwin was also on the fundraising committee. She and Nancy Parks were referred to as “the two Nancys”. “I went to every event in the County, all the different fairs and craft sales, any event, and we had a booth where you could buy a seat [in the new arena] and have your name put on it. We had items of clothing as well, and pins, and it was just to let people know about it, and they could pledge money as well,” said Nancy Baldwin. The other Nancy actually had a small but pivotal role in the entrance plan of the final building.

The design committee had toured other regional community centres prior to the build and came back with a recommendation that the main doors not face west, since the prevailing west winds in winter would rapidly cool down the vestibule when the doors opened, which is why the atrium at the Highline Hall entrance has a south-facing door. Nancy Parks was the only one who noticed that the original single door in the entrance atrium would not allow access to the north part of the hall when the removable divider was in place. The chagrined designers quickly installed a second door, which they dubbed the “Nancy door”. The community centre incorporated a number of innovative features. There was a professionally designed commercial kitchen, the use of grey water for toilet flushing, and radiant heat floors that used the byproduct heat from making ice.

Opening day on December 12, 2010 was a big community event, with County residents eager to get a glimpse of the new facility. “That was certainly a big day,” said Nancy Baldwin. “We had David Simmonds sing a song he wrote about the Dukes. We had skaters and hockey players and a band, and all kinds of events for the grand opening. It was a pretty big deal. The place was packed. That year the Dukes won the Dudley Hewitt Cup and went on to the Royal Bank Cup in Camrose, Alberta. They hosted the Dudley Hewitt here in 2014 and we couldn’t have done that in the old arena.” The first hockey game in the new arena was made sweeter for Nancy Baldwin when her beloved Dukes won, with the first goal being scored by Zach Blake, who was one of her billets.

Jim Dunlop said the community centre has been a benefit for the whole County. “It’s provided a venue for the community to participate, and it’s been used by different organizations. It’s been the home of the Wellington Dukes, one of the top teams in Canada in junior hockey. And the large hall for 400 people has been used by service clubs like Rotary, and the Lions, and the Elks, and also for the public for important events.” Nancy Parks continues to be amazed at how much the community centre is being used—or perhaps more accurately, was being used in non-COVID times. “When I attend events at the community centre, there are things we never even thought of when we were sitting around the design table. The walking track was a ‘nice to have’ when we were talking about it, but now it has become a real service, especially for the older people in our community who use it in the winter. We have craft shows, dances, public meetings, even celebration of life. It was a wonderful project for the community.”

Jim Dunlop, who was instrumental in seeing a new community centre built in Wellington, smiles as he watches residents enjoy public skating for the first time in the new facility.

Nancy Baldwin and Nancy Parks help coordinate the opening of the Wellington and District Community Centre on December 12, 2010.