Yukon News story from November 20, 2001, page 48.
© Yukon News 2002, posted with permission.

By Jillian Rogers
News Sports Reporter

The multiplex will house many sports, but fitting them all in will require something close to a miracle.

Volleyball will require lines on the floors and holes for nets. Badminton players will need lines and holes as well. As will basketball.

But the floor of the multi-use facility on Hamilton Boulevard can’t end up looking like a colorful maze. And athletes could trip over all those cover plates over all the holes.

Monday night, architects and planners from Barr Ryder, the Edmonton-based company hired to design the multiplex, along with a city planner and a local architect, met with representatives from many user groups to discuss possible design options. Basketball, judo, badminton, boxing, weightlifting and climbing organizations were among the local groups invited to attend the informal gathering at Sport Yukon.

Though they are all looking for different features — everything from lines on the floor to special lighting — Barr Ryder’s Stephen Barr said afterward that all were reasonable requests and deserve serious consideration.

“This is entirely possible,” said Barr after the meetings. “The federal government has given a whole lot of money but the biggest issue is the expectations of everybody.

“We’re going to make sure that not only is it an excellent Canada Games’ facility, but it really has an opportunity to reach out to both the organized users of sports and the spontaneous, leisure users.” First to plead its case at the user meeting were the Yukon Climbing Association’s Jeff Hunston and Dainius Zaldokas. Though the territory already has a few indoor climbing walls — at FH Collins, Emilie Tremblay and in Carmacks — they are either unsafe, private or too far away, said Hunston and Zaldokas. Plus, said Zaldokas, they are so short that an experienced climber could scale those walls “in about 10 seconds.” Climbing is a popular sport in the North but numbers have been in a slump for the past few years because of inadequate facilities during the winter, when outdoor climbing is out of the question due to the weather.

The two walls in Whitehorse were never really designed for serious climbers and now the one at FH Collins is falling apart and uninsurable — therefore, unusable.

The group proposed a wall with a variety of holds and routes and that would stand at least 12 to 15 metres high. “China has its Great Wall; I’d like to see one here,” said Hunston. Proper maintenance and supervision of the wall would be essential to ensure no one “falls off and breaks their neck,” he added. He suggested a possible partnership with the city and the climbing association to ensure a staff person is always on duty when the wall is in use.

“Climbing is skyrocketing,” said Hunston, adding that climbing courses always have long waiting lists.

Technical director Kelly Mock and president of the Yukon Gymnastics Association Dave Porter only asked for 900 to 1,080 square metres of space to host the gymnastics event at the 2007 Canada Winter Games. (Gymnasts would not be permanent residents of the multiplex and would continue to train at the Polarettes Club’s facility in Riverdale.) The club also asked whether the facility would be completed in time for the 2004 Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships to be held here. Barr said no, but added the multiplex could be finished as early as the fall of 2004.

(The construction contract for the multiplex will be tendered in the fall of 2003.)

Weightlifters are looking for a permanent and accessible training centre. Currently, clubs (and equipment) are scattered through two private gyms and one high school in Whitehorse.

“We’re a small group, but we’re a strong one,” chuckled the Yukon Weightlifting Association’s Moira Lassen. “And we need a home; we’d love a home.”

Weightlifting has about 50 competitive lifters in Whitehorse, Carmacks and Haines Junction.

Boxers are also looking for a home.

The existing boxing centre is an old military hospital in Takhini that barely has room for a ring.

And, said Yukon Amateur Boxing Association president Jenny Reid, both the heat and plumbing are reliable.

“Boxers are used to working out in small, dingy spaces; they expect it,” she said. “But this is below Rocky level.” An area with room for a permanent or collapsible ring, mirrors and hooks for heavy punching bags is on the YABA’s wish list. That would allow for a clean and roomy environment and would draw more pugilists from Whitehorse, Dawson and Carcross. Alpine skiers hope to use the multiplex as a place for dry-land training, said head coach Dick Eastmure. “We’re looking for a place where we can do standardize testing in a consistent (environment),” he said.

A running track would also be an asset, not only to the skiers, but for athletes in any sport — especially athletics. Badminton has very specific requirements for the 2007 Canada Games, including colored courts, diffused lighting and “discreet” air circulation for optimum shuttle hang-time. There will be room for approximately 10 courts during the Games with plenty of on-floor seating.

Portable courts may be an option instead of actually painting the floors and having to “sand the floor the minute the Games are over,” said Barr.

Basketball will obviously require nets and lines, but the big concern is the time that will be available if indoor soccer moves in. Most of the groups lamented shrinking gym times because of the huge influx in indoor soccer players.

And what happens if the sport keeps growing? Does soccer get gym-time and multiplex time? asked Basketball Yukon’s Paul Butra.

This is something that needs to be sorted out, said Barr. “We can’t solve all the problems,” said Barr. Barr Ryder will try to do what’s best for the development of as many sports as possible, he added.

A permanent dojo for judo may be one request that the architects will have trouble fulfilling.

Judo representative Aaron Jensen wants the sport to have its own area where practitioners can leave their mats. Judo currently has three clubs in Whitehorse with over 120 members. Many are put off with the idea of practicing on a hard gym floor rather than the standard sprung-floor which absorbs shock, said Jensen. Rick Dale of the archery club is looking for at least a 34-metre stretch for shooting and a safe spot to store the bows and arrows. The archery club has been around for eight years and has about 40 active members.

The sport also requires specific lighting and electric outlets for timing devices.

“Some sports are growing, but we’re not, because our gym times are so late, we can’t get the junior archers out to train,” said Dale. Mount McIntyre was also represented at the meeting and it wants a covered pathway connecting the multiplex to Mount Mac for conventions and trade shows.

Designers and architects will discuss all the requests and bring a tentative design before council and public forums before meeting with the user groups again.

“We know there are larger community needs than we can meet,” said Barr. “There are no guarantees that one group will get everything they need, but we just want to make sure that we don’t leave anyone out accidentally.”

Contact Jillian Rogers at jrogers@yukon-news.com

Posted November 25, 2002
D. Hitch