by Tressa Ford
The Civic Centre was built in the middle of the depression as a one-of-a-kind facility in western Canada. Over eight decades it became integral to many aspects of Nelson life.
It’s hard to overstate the social importance the Civic Centre held for the local community. Its rink, gyms, theatre, and halls allowed for an unprecedented range of activity under one roof. This continues today, with the Civic Centre currently being home to the oldest still-operating hockey rink in B.C., the Civic Theatre, Glacier Gymnastics, Dance Umbrella, Tumbleweeds Gym, the Nelson and District Seniors Coordinating Society, and the Restorative Justice program.
Through the decades it’s been a sports hub for hockey, skating, curling, badminton, indoor tennis, and basketball, as well as fitness classes and square dancing. The Civic Recreation Grounds (now the NDCC parking lot) were used for baseball, softball, track and field, soccer, and lacrosse. Skating was a popular date night activity for young Nelson couples, and the high representation of youth in sports helped ease hand-wringing over juvenile crime rates.
Large-scale sports events attracted visitors from across the Kootenays, North America, and beyond. The Civic Centre’s top-notch ice facilities made an event like the Nelson Midsummer Bonspiel (1945-2008) possible. The Midsummer Bonspiel brought thousands of curlers and spectators to Nelson, with many of them camping in the Civic Recreation Grounds. The Kootenay Open Badminton Tournament also welcomed hundreds of national and international players from the 1930s to the early 2000s. Senior hockey games and special events drew spectators from throughout the region, often packing the arena well past fire safety regulations — much to the displeasure of the Nelson fire chief!
But it wasn’t just a sports facility. The theatre opened in 1936 for both live performances and films, and even after it was leased to the Famous Players movie company (from 1938 to 1976), there were six days set aside each month for community performances. The large amusement hall, featuring a piano and adjoining kitchen, was often used for banquets, conventions, and dances. For several decades, the Civic Centre was home to the Nelson Women’s Institute, the Nelson Municipal Library, and the Kootenay Artisans Christmas Market.
Notable events include the West Kootenay Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in 1950, which drew a crowd of 3,000 on its first day. In 1952, Louis Armstrong played to a crowd of 700 delighted fans — likely a cold performance due to the ice being in at the time. The 1960s saw several Battle of the Bands events, which featured competitors from across the Kootenays. Through the 1970s, there were circuses with performances including elephants, tigers, and even lions jumping through flaming hoops.
The Civic Centre has also been a significant source of local employment and volunteer work. It was built by unemployment relief to stimulate the local economy during the Depression. Beyond the full- and part-time staff required to run the building, youth “rink rats” kept themselves busy with various maintenance tasks in exchange for free time on the ice. From late 1943 to 1944, during the Second World War, the badminton hall operated as an assembly plant for Boeing aircraft parts. Due to employment difficulties caused by enlistment and the draft, the workforce for the plant was required by Boeing to be 65 per cent women.
Trail MLA Richard R. Burns, at the opening of the Civic Theatre in 1936, said about the whole Civic Centre: “Your dividends from this enterprise will not be in money but in happiness.”
Today, due to structural concerns and rising revitalization costs, the future of the Civic Centre is unclear. However, it’s certainly weathered its fair share of rough periods over the past eight decades and remains standing. And it’s certainly paid for itself a hundred times over in the happiness it’s given back to Nelson.
Tressa Ford is archives assistant at the Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery.
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