Hockey arena.
Fas Gas-On the Run Gymnasium.
Harris Canada Games Centre interior.
successfully completed the project on time and within budget, and the client was very impressed with our performance, quality, and expertise, both on site and in the office.” The high, 41-foot ceilings above the performance gymnasium provide the clearance needed to attract a number of national-level events. Only two days after hosting the 2019 Canada Winter Games, RDC was able to host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Volleyball National Championship, featuring the
top eight volleyball teams from across the country. And in January 2020, Red Deer College also successfully hosted the World Baton Twirling Federation (WBTF) 2020 Pan Pacific Cup, attracting athletes from all over the world thanks – in large part – the amount of ceiling clearance needed to permit a sport like baton twirling to happen. “Obviously the COVID-19 situation has made it more difficult to continue hosting these kinds of events at this time, but we probably received about eight years of
experience in hosting large-scale events in less than six months,” says Rix While the centre allows RDC’s athletic teams to train, practice, and compete under one roof for the first time, the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre was also built to serve the City of Red Deer. Local community groups, such as the family-orientated Red Deer Pond Hockey organization and Red Deer Minor Hockey Midget AAA Female Chiefs, use the facility to host weekly games and consolidate most of their game-play in a single venue. Additionally, Hockey Alberta partners with RDC to base their operations at the centre, hosting high-performance camps, provincial team training, and other events. “We aren’t about protecting the facility for our college teams and a few handselected groups that train and play here,” says Rix. “The Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre is a wide-open, community access facility, and the majority of people who spend their time in the fitness centre are community members. The building is open for all, and that is something that has become part of its broad appeal, and had been huge for us in building lasting connections.” In all, the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre is but part – albeit a huge part - of a larger campus-wide undertaking that saw three buildings added to the main campus in the span of eight months. Piling Industry Canada • December 2020 21
