In a project that has been a long-time coming, our team, along with many others are proud to announce that the Thunderchild Wellness Centre is now serving the community. In a project that began about five years ago, hit a few snags along the way, but eventually got back on track, is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved.
The new 90,000 sq. ft. facility spared no expense for the Thunderchild First Nation community. Boasting a full-sized hockey rink, a fieldhouse featuring the ability to switch between an indoor soccer pitch, a lacrosse field, three volleyball courts, basketball courts and badminton courts. Beyond the athletic space, the center also features an entire medical wing, a fitness center and daycare facility. With hopes of becoming a central gathering point for the Nation and neighboring communities, it will also serve as a place to hold special and sacred community-based events such as weddings, band meetings, open town halls, indoor pow wow's, ceremonial and cultural events.
We were fortunate enough to have been brought into the project by our esteemed partners at Omni Sport. Working closely with the general contractor, SBL Contractors, we teamed up to help design, build and install a new state-of-the-art arena grandstand for the new hockey rink located inside the massive facility.
Looking to fit a 10-row i-beam grandstand bleacher that measures 172’ long and seats over 900 spectators inside a hockey rink is no easy feat, but was certainly a challenge everyone involved was up to. Our design team got to work in the early stages of the project and provided a number of plans to the architectural arm of the project. There the two teams exchanged ideas and site details to help design the custom grandstand that would soon fit inside the allotted space.
Following the costing analysis and breakdown, approvals were made and the manufacturing process was kicked into high gear. Once everything was set for shipping, the grandstand was loaded and shipped to meet the team at Omni Sport for the final installation. Their team worked tirelessly to get all of the required materials inside the building and perform the final installation.
Boasting a 15 ¾” rise to add for better spectator sightlines along with a custom row space of 30” to allow for ample room to navigate to the seating within each row, this bleacher was truly a sight to behold. Add in our custom tongue & groove fully closed deck, and you’ve got a guarantee that no one drops their cell phone under this bleacher and the maintenance staff at Thunderchild Wellness Centre will not have to clean up under the bleacher after game day.
The centre officially opened to rave reviews in the late spring and we are incredibly proud to have played a role in its development. Despite the challenges and the one and a half year delay due to COVID, it’s been a rewarding experience for everyone involved.
“It sounds cliche, but honestly, it’s been just incredible,” chief operations officer with SBL Contractors Ltd., Josh Kulbaba, said. “It’s going to be such a gathering spot for the community and something that really brings the community together. There’s been a lot of challenges between COVID and funding and weather – you name it we’ve kind of seen it – so to get to this point where we’re at the finish line is pretty awesome.”