After many months of construction, the shiny new Nelson District Community Complex(NDCC) was officially opened on May 10th, 1975 by then leader of the Senate of Canada, The Honourable R.J. Perrault.
The new Community Complex adds to the city's recreational facilities with a new hockey arena, swimming pool, fitness and training rooms, concession, meeting rooms and large gymnasium. It also houses overflow from the Sports Museum which is housed in the old civic centre.
This being Canada, the centrepiece of the NDCC is the hockey arena, which is home to the Junior B Nelson Leafs. They are members of the Neil Murdoch Division of the Kootenay Conference of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. This, naturally, is the larger (approximately 1,400 seat) arena of two in the NDCC, with a concession, multiple dressing rooms, officials' dressing rooms and offices. In order to keep the profile of the building relatively low, the arena is sunk below ground, appearing from the outside to be a single storey structure.
It was discovered years ago that the concourse around the top of the seating in the building was a suitable area for walking in the winter when people would rather not walk outside. It became so popular as a walking venue that some of the upper row of seats have become a nuisance to walkers. As as result, in 2012 several seats, also favourites of hockey fans, were removed. It was, needless to say, a controversial move. The Nelson Star fills in the details below.
Nelson arena to lose 65 seats
by Sam Van Schie - Nelson Star
posted Aug 23, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Though hockey fans consider them the best seats in the house, a row of chairs in the Nelson and District Community Centre arena will soon be removed to create more concourse space.
The 65 chairs that currently form the top row on the east side of the arena will be taken out early next month, reducing the total number of seats to 1,335.
NDCC recreation manager Eric Bientjes said removing the chairs will allow more room for walkers and joggers who regularly use the concourse for exercise, free of charge...
...Removing the seats will increase the walking space on the east side of the concourse by 30 per cent, which Bientjes explained will allow two mothers to push their strollers side-by-side.
But Nelson Leafs head coach Frank Maida isn't happy about the seats coming out...
...The top row is popular for hockey fans because it allows spectators to see over the glass, while also allowing an unobstructed view of the corners of the rink...
...During peak winter months, as many as 150 people recreate on the concourse each day. The recreation commission is also considering the the idea of investing in a more suitable walking surface for the concourse, which is currently just bare concrete, but Bientjes doubts they could do it without charging a user fee.
From The Nelson Star
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