CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF MEMORIES

Celebrating 90 years of memories. No, we are not celebrating 90 years from the time the Regina Pats were formed, that was last year. Or the Saskatchewan Roughriders who are celebrating their 100th birthday next year. We are thinking of the 90 years of the Exhibition Stadium.

In the spring I heard and read from the Regina Leader Post that the Exhibition Stadium doors were going to be permanently closed in January, 2010, and will eventually be demolished. Since the opening of the Agridome (now Brandt Centre) in 1977, the Exhibition Stadium has been used for agricultural exhibitions, minor hockey, broom ball, and other special occasions. It is presently the oldest standing hockey arena in Canada still in use. Now, with a new six-rink multiplex slated to go online at Evraz Place in December, Exhibition Stadium has officially reached the end of its life cycle. I thought it would be nice to write a story and put it on my Regina Pats History Web Site. Should I put it on now or wait until January? Then I remembered that the rink was built in 1919, so that meant it would be celebrating its 90th birthday on December 4, 2009.

I am sure many are not aware that the Amphitheatre and Winter Fair Building was located on the same spot as the present Regina Exhibition Stadium. This building was erected in 1913 and opened in February, 1914. The rink ice size was 85 feet by 200 feet. The seating capacity was 5,000. The total cost $130,000.

The building was turned over to the 77th Battery when war was declared in 1914. The structure was used as a military barracks and drill hall until fire destroyed it on December 18th, 1917.

Sketch by William P. Argan

Our nephew visited us at the end of June and I took him to visit the old rink where his father had played. He took something like 60 pictures both inside and out. How the rink had changed. The outside walls, made of brick, had certain areas where the bricks were falling showing holes. I almost did not recognized the inside of the main part of the rink. The centre clock and the press box high in the rafters were both gone. The well-known pillars, the wooden seats and cement steps were still there. Here are just a few pictures showing how the outside bricks are falling away from the building.



What used to be the Main Entrance - North Side



South-East Corner of the Rink

East Side - Looking north (Pasqua Hospital in the background)

One of the Entrances to the main Rink area.



One of the Old Dressing Rooms



It brought back good old memories

The new Stadium, later to be known as the Exhibition Stadium, was situated just east of Pasqua St. and south of Dewdney Avenue, behind the Grey Nuns Hospital (now the Pasqua Hospital). The ice service was from north to south and was known for its many pillars around the rink.

The broadcast booth was situated high in the rafters of the Stadium on the east side and the only way a person could get to it was by the long steel ladder that went straight up to the door. When I was with the Pats, I could remember tucking my game book under one arm and climbing up with the other arm, step by step. The south end of the rink had the ice surface come right to the brick wall where there were no seats and it had a high wire screen. Above the ice was a long press box with open windows, plus the goal judge was seated at the centre of that box high above the goal. Above the centre of the ice was the time clock under an “Export Cigarettes” sign.

See the picture below.

In the mid 1960's and 1970's the south gate (which is shown open in the above picture) led out to where the cows and horses were located during the cow and horse shows. Just to the right were the dressing rooms. The press box is located just to the right of the sign “next Pats home game” The goal judges box was located right above the goal mesh.

The rink was built of bricks and as I looked at the rink, probably for the last time, I could see a section on the east side where the bricks had fallen out leaving a big hole. There was still the long wooden seats and wooden back benches around the north, west, and east area of the ice surface.

Oh how I can remember those special children games, where prizes were handed out to the kids. The attendance was up to near 6,000 or more. The kids were everywhere, even hanging onto the the steel ladder to the press box.

The Regina Leader, mentioned, The rink was opened at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 4, 1919, with nearly 3,000 spectators present. They saw a program of fancy skaters, Anna Munkin, Lillian Egan and Henry Bronk. Then followed open skating until 10:00 p.m. Nine days later, the first hockey game was played on Friday, December 19, between Vics and Moose Jaw Maple Leafs in the Senior League's home opener at 8:30 p.m. Reserved seats were $1.00 or 75 cents, with rush seats at 50 cents.

The rink would become the largest west of the Winnipeg Amphitheatre. Ninety years plus one month later, the rink is no more. January 2010 the rink doors will close for the last time.

The Leader went on to mentioned that the rinks' name would be called "Stadium" given in a name contest by Mrs. W. G. Styles. In 1935 the Stadim name was changed to the Exhibition Stadium.

Additional Notes:

A group called the Queen City Gardens Limited, President Jack Hamilton, was created August 13th, 1938, and they decided to shelve the idea of the new downtown rink and approached the Regina Exhibition Board regarding leasing the Stadium rink. They ordered an ice plant from Canadian Ice Machine Company on October 20th. At the same time they bought an ice maker from Frank Bauman of Minneapolis. The ice plant was finally finished at the end of November, in time for the opening game of the new Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League. At the same time they made improvements to the rink: open waiting room on the east side, repairs to the ladies washroom, players dressing rooms remodeled, plus a new paint job all over the rink. The Stadium name was changed to the Queen City Gardens.

The Stadium was known for its many steel pillars throughout the rink. The Regina Pats played at the rink from 1920 until the club was disbanded in 1934. When they reorganized in 1946, they played there until 1977 when they moved into the new Agridome.

Most people said that Foster Hewitt was the first to ever broadcast a hockey game. Hewitt broadcast an amateur hockey game March 22, 1923, but Pete Parker broadcast the first professional game eight days earlier on Regina Radio Station CKCK.

The following was taken from the Regina Leader-Post, March 14, 1972, by Sports Writer, Ron Campbell.

"It was March 15, 1923, the radio listeners in this area were surprised to hear the first complete professional hockey game ever broadcast in Canada. The broadcast originated from the Exhibition Stadium and was carried by CKCK Radio on Hamilton Street. At the time it was operated as part of the Morning Leader, with a studio on the fifth floor of the Leader-Post building.


Calling the play-by-play that night was L.D. "Pete" Parker who was visiting the city as part of the radio station's 50th Anniversary observances being held that year. "It was just an experiment" said Pete, recalling that fabulous night. "Bert Hooper was the whole radio department at that time. He did everything, broadcasting and engineering. Bert was always looking for something new as far as broadcasting was concerned and, while I had done some, I guess the main reason why he asked me to do the play-by-play was because I had always been a real hockey nut" said Pete. (Sketch by William P. Argan)

"It was the first game of the Western Canada Hockey League play-offs between Edmonton Eskimos and Regina Caps leading to the
Stanley Cup. The broadcast went off pretty well and caught all of our listeners by surprise."

Pete called the game from high in the rafters on the east side of the Stadium where the present broadcast booth is located; however, a special closed-in box was built to house Pete. He used a cradle-type telephone and an amplifier.

During 1955 the City of Regina was celebrating their Golden Jubilee and the entire Memorial Cup series was played at the Regina Exhibition Stadium. The officials for the game were both from the east, Charlie Delziel of Montreal and Len Corriveau of Quebec City.

(Regina Transit Buses lined up infront of the Regina Exhibition Stadium waiting for the fans to depart from the Memorial Cup game - Photo: Regina City Archives)

It had Turk Broda, goalie of the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the 1950's, coaching the Maple Leaf farm team, Toronto Marlboros. The Marlboros' won in five games, having the last two games going into overtime.The last game was played before 5,718 fans.

Throughout the five games, there were 25,821 spectators attending, almost 8,000 more than witnessed last year's final in which St. Catherine Tee Pees defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings in five games.

It was noted in the second game Saturday, that the Stadium Manager, Bob Gillies, announced seats sold-out, standing room only at $1.00 per person.


There never was a Pats team that won the Memorial Cup at the old Exhibition Stadium. The Regina Pats had only two chances, in 1952 and 1955. The only team that did win was a team approximatley 500 miles away from a northern Manitoba mining city, the Flin Flon Bombers in 1957. (Photo: Flin Flon Bombers - Web Site)

Flon Flon Bombers finished in first place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League that year with 88 points, twenty more than the second place Regina Pats. The Bombers went on to defeat the Ottawa Canadiens and ex-Pat's Murray Balfour in the Memorial Cup in seven games. The first three games were played in Flin Flon, the rest of the series was then moved to the Regina Exhibition Stadium.



(Photo: Bryan Schlosser - Regina Leader Post file)

Taking from the Regina Leader Post - The building is expected to be demolished sometime down the road as part of a long-term revitalization plan for the exhibition grounds.

"Many people, even our current customers, love the quality of the ice in there and have fond memories of the building" noted Evraz Place President and CEO Mark Allan, "but it's clearly at the end of its useful lifespan. That was something we subsidized so the community could have ice. As soon as we have the new ice we're not going to subsidize that. One of the things I've found in my six years here is if we have too many sacred cows on the property ... it contributes to our demise. It's at our peril that we ignore these things and don't face them. Just because something is difficult to do doesn't mean we won't do it. We're going to step away (from the Stadium). We'll try and do it respectfully but we will step away."

Allan said he's open to ideas about how to go about honouring the facility, which was a long-time home to the WHL's Regina Pats.

"It's important to respect what the building has contributed to the community" he said. "We'll be putting our heads together on that this fall. We will make some sort of a gesture. I don't want to make it a bigger issue because I just don't have a choice in what I want to do but I want to be respectful as we step away."

Ask former Pats player and coach Al Dumba about the Stadium and the memories immediately come flooding back. They begin when, as a youngster, he watched his heroes like Fran Huck and Bill Hicke, then continued with his first training camp at age 14. He remembers standing in line outside the office of GM Del Wilson, waiting to learn if he made the team. He recalls being in awe from his first meeting with head coach Bob Turner, who had won five Stanley Cup rings with the Montreal Canadiens. Dumba also remembers the brawls that were a regular occurrence, not to mention the infamous night in the 1973-74 season when Tiger Williams and other members of the Swift Current Broncos led a revolt into the stands.

"There are lots of old funny memories that we talk about all the time still," said Dumba, now the colour analyst on Pats' radio broadcasts. "I still skate in there two or three times a year at least. You can see some of those old rooms. It brings back a lot of thoughts about old teammates and everything."

That said, Dumba insists shutting the doors is for a higher purpose and he, for one, is a believer in progress. "It's going to be sad -- we're going to think about it -- but at the same time you always want to see bigger and better things." He continued, "You don't want to live in the past but you sure want to remember the past. Hopefully there will be something done when it is taken down, maybe some type of monument or something just to kind of help people remember. If they could save maybe a piece of it or a part of it, I'm not sure what they could do. It would help if they could do something nostalgic with it." Much of that nostalgia -- although certainly not all -- is associated with the Pats.

"It may sound like an oxymoron but I have good memories of Exhibition Stadium." said former Pats star Dennis Sobchuk "I remember the chicken wire and the people and the horse smells. The Regina Pats were the team. If you tuned in to TV or radio or read the paper, it was all Pats. You thought it was the epitome of junior hockey. You would go into Exhibition Stadium and your eyes would be wide open. It was like going to the old Montreal Forum."

Regina Leader Post Sports Writer, Darrell Davis, interviewed Gord Berenson, on April 7, 2008. Berenson said that while in Regina he stopped to see the Brandt Centre, home of the Western Hockey League's Pats, without realizing the decrepit Exhibition Stadium was still standing nearby. He said "When I was a kid, really a kid, like 11 years old, my mom would wake me up at 5 (a.m.) so I could get to the Stadium every Saturday morning,'' said Berenson. "I knew how to get into the Stadium. I would go in there and skate in the dark until the games started at 8. That was my favourite day -- I couldn't wait for Saturday morning.''

The rink is almost as old as a legendary ex-Pat. Murray Armstrong, 93 years old, played and coached in that old Regina Exhibition Stadium. Even two players whom he coached in the 1950's, Bob Turner and Lorne Davis, played and coached in that rink.

The Canadian MacDonald Brier was held at the Regina Exhibition Stadium in 1955. The Brier was started back in 1927 and up until 1955. The largest attendance for the Brier was 32,000 which was the previous year at Edmonton. In 1955, at the Regina Exhibition Stadium, the attendance was 51,725. It was only the second time that the Brier had ever been held in Saskatchewan. The Brier had been held in Saskatoon in 1946.

The picture below shows the action at the 1955 MacDonald Brier Canadian Men’s Curling Championship at Exhibition Stadium, Regina. The Saskatchewan team, wearing white sweaters and skipped by Garnet Campbell of Avonlea, is playing on Sheet D, (the second sheet from the right). Campbell and brothers Don, Glen and Gordon won all 10 of their games to give Saskatchewan its first Brier championship.



Photo: Saskatchewan Archives Board R-B1159

There were many other great performances as well: Louis Armstrong, The Ice Capades and the Shrine Circus as shown below.



There were many more activites at that old rink. In 1966, Regina Leader Post, dated September 9, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performed. The orchestra, under the direction of Victor Feldbrill, will give a matinee performance for students at 3:30 and then the main "pop" concert at 8:15 p.m. In 2002 the Womens's CIS Hockey Championship was held at the Regina Exhibition Stadium, from February 28 to Sunday, March 3. The Gold Medal game was played at 2:00 pm on TSN-TV. It had Alberta defeating Laurier 5-2. Also the Montreal Canadiens played some Exhibition games in the rink. The list goes on and on.