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Before the "Crushed Can" falls victim to the wrecking ball I was given permission to have a walk-through and capture these last images of her.
You will see images from inside that only some were allowed into and never open to the general public, how it was left in early April.
A little History Below
The Moose Jaw Civic Centre is a 3,146-seat multi-purpose arena located in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, and was home to the Moose Jaw Warriors junior ice hockey team.
Designed by Saskatchewan architect Joseph Pettick and Vancouver structural engineer J.L. Miller, the Civic Centre won the Massey Medal for architecture, a precursor to Canada's Governor General's Medals in Architecture.
The innovative cable structure roof that gives the building its unique shape, was an ingenious and cost effective solution that allowed such a large building to be constructed on a modest budget, while maintaining an
unobstucted view of the arena surface from all seats. At the time it was built it was the largest cable structure in Canada. It is sometimes called "The Crushed Can" because of its unusual shape.
Architect Joseph Pettick was trying to find a cost-efficient modern solution to the problem of heating a hockey arena — he felt a low, concave roof would keep the ice cool and the fans warm by funneling the heat upwards.
The design was meant to channel heat, but it ended up creating it, too — even on nights when you could see your breath inside the building. With its quirky bounces, small ice surface, steep stands and a ceiling that trapped noise and energy.
Pettick had unwittingly designed a powder keg of a hockey rink.
The building was officially opened as The Moose Jaw Community Centre on September 19, 1959, with a gala performance by legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, an event that was attended by then-Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas.
It later played host to the 1983 world women’s curling championship.
The impetus for the building was a fire that destroyed the old arena rink on Ross Street in the fall of 1955. City Council then appointed a group of citizens to oversee plans for a new building.
From the opening night program: "The project is the largest of its type undertaken in the City. Its history is one of courage, energy and enthusiasm undampened by adversity."
After initial tenders in the range of one million dollars, the length of the building was shortened, and the final cost was a mere $525,000.00. The building opened on budget and debt free.
Current replacement cost of the building would be in the tens of millions of dollars.
The Moose Jaw Civic Centre played host to its final hockey game on Sunday April 3rd 2011.
But when it is talked about — and surely the old Crushed Can will be talked about by nostalgic hockey fans for years to come — the concave roof and the noise level in the building won’t ever be forgotten.
Mosaic Place, completed in September 2011, will serve as a replacement for the Moose Jaw Civic Centre. The City abandoned the Civic Centre in September 2011, and demolition is likely.
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