ads@weeklyreview.ca
YOUR LOCAL PAPER!
New large letter signage being developed for Viking Carena
Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Vol. 42, No. 36
$1 includes GST *artist rendering
Patricia Harcourt Editor
Viking's Economic Development Officer Doug Lefsrud is excited about the sign lettering that will soon turn the Viking Carena Complex into a landmark in the night sky. The giant sign will be a life size replica of the sign on the original Carena, which burned down in July 2005. The Carena received its name as the result of car raffles held to raise funds for the building, which opened July 9, 1952, with the help of famous NHL hockey announcer Foster Hewitt. When the new arena was built, it was decided the Carena name would stay as a way of keeping the historical continuity going on the town's hockey legacy. After all, the burned arena had produced the Sutter family's legendary NHL run, making Viking memorable in the minds of many fans around the world. The new Carena was built in the eastern side of town, but there has been no sign for it put up to date. The new council is changing all that. Red lettering six feet high will be placed at the top of the front of the building mid-way as it arches below the roof. Lefsrud said the town is deliberately trying to make the sign as close to the original Carena sign as possible. The sign is being constructed by Blanchett Neon of Edmonton. The sign will be internally illuminated by LED lighting that Lefsrud says will be seen from the highway. There will be rails for mounting the letters to the existing building, and painted to match the building's corrugated metal facade. Lefsrud hopes this will help the people coming to visit the facility a way to quickly identify it if driving past or looking for the building from a distance, especially at night. The original Carena sign can still be seen just south of the Medical Clinic, in the middle of town, very close to the spot where the building burned. It has been preserved for posterity along with three murals depicting the history of hockey in Viking. Once the sign is in place at the new Carena site, Lefsrud wants to take a photo of council standing on the roof right behind to officially mark the occasion. Hopefully, this takes place in the next month or two.
Blanchett Neon's design of how the new individual illuminated SM formed letters mounted to raceways would look when installed on the Viking Carena Complex. The letters are 6 ft. high and will be internally illuminated by LED lights.
The original Carena had similar red lettering