As Westlock approaches the end of a significant era in its history, the beginning of a new one is just around the corner.
Jubilee Arena was completed in 1963, around the time of the town’s 50th birthday. The ice will come out of there within weeks, and the building itself will be torn down not long after.
No matter who you are, or what your role in this community has been, there’s a good chance you’ve spent some time in the Jubilee Arena. And if you haven’t, it’s worth making a trip to see what all the fuss is about.
There’s a lot of history in that old barn.
Of course, all good things must come to an end, and as Westlock’s sporting community ends this chapter a new one is set to begin not 50 feet away.
The Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre will certainly be able to fill the role so capably filled by the Jubilee Arena for so many years. And, to be honest, the new facility will present opportunities Jubilee never could.
It is a truly modern facility, with opportunities for not only existing sporting clubs like minor hockey, Westlock Lacrosse, the figure skating club and the different combative sports groups in the area, but also for other groups looking to start up.
There’s not reason to think a gymnastics club couldn’t take hold in the new facility, or even a recreational badminton league. Why not get an indoor soccer club going? The fieldhouse is big enough to host just about any kind of sporting event done under a roof.
Fifty years down the road, just like long-time Westlock residents are able to reflect on the meaning of the Jubilee Arena and their experiences in it, many of us will be around to reflect on what the Spirit Centre has meant for the area.
The important thing to keep in mind, though, is that the facility itself will not make anything happen. Instead, it will help the area’s volunteers write a new chapter in the town’s history.
An editorial in this very publication, written close to 50 years ago, applies as much to the Spirit Centre now as it did to the Jubilee Arena then. This facility could revitalize and even revolutionize sporting in Westlock.
