Dream becomes a reality
Published Friday July 3rd, 2009
Tri-County Complex is nearing completion
It has taken 19 years to get here, but at long last the Frank and Beatrice Alexander Tri-County Complex in Fredericton Junction is nearing completion.
Even before it officially opens its doors in August, this project has brought the community together as people of all ages met fundraising goals and dedicated time and energy to the actual build.
The volunteers behind this wanted to do it, says Dr. John Richardson, to "give our kids a place to grow and develop, give our middle-aged people healthier forms of recreation and keep our seniors more active."
Besides the benefits it will bring to current residents, the complex will attract more people to the area, including families with school-aged children to keep the local schools viable, he says.
Richardson has been one of the driving forces behind this project from its earliest days.
The contract was $5.4 million, but there have been some additional costs along the way, he says, and they are currently working with their funding partners to cover them.
The surrounding community truly stepped up to turn the dream of a Tri-County Complex into a reality.
"We've had a great volunteer effort. I think we've generated about $400,000 in volunteer work here," he says. People have done what they could, donating money, time and material where needed.
Richardson is starting to feel better about the project now that the end is in sight, but he'll be happy when all the loose ends are tied up.
"I think I'm a bit obsessive compulsive, so until the last dish is washed, there is some nervousness that goes with it," he says.
Based in Fredericton Junction, the Tri-County Complex will serve the Village of Tracy and the Local Service Districts of Tracyville, Hoyt, Wirral-Enniskillen and Clarendon.
"About 4,000 people in that area," says Richardson. "But we've always thought of ourselves as not just a tri-county thing and in our negotiations with some of the hockey/fitness people in the Greater Fredericton Area, we quickly realized that we're going to be a great asset to the Greater Fredericton Area."
People from outside the tri-county area are encouraged to utilize the facility and ice time, he says, as the success will be in sharing the complex with others.
"It's a well-designed, first-class facility with a lot to offer," says Richardson. "It's not just a rink, it's a fitness centre, a walking centre, a bowling centre - we're trying to address many different avenues in health and wellness."
Valerie Webb is another volunteer with the project. She was president of the local recreation centre for a number of years, she says, and is currently the out-going president of what is now called the Minor Hockey Association.
"I have two hockey players of my own and I wanted to give the kids opportunity in the community to play hockey, as I know if we didn't do that, a lot of them wouldn't have gotten to play," she says.
She is extremely pleased by how it has turned out and how the hockey program has grown in the community. It is up to 150 kids and 13 teams, and has had a huge show of support from both local business and parents.
"The groundwork is already laid for the hockey program," she says.
Webb is looking forward to using the complex herself, noting, "I have lived this dream for years."
She adds, "This project isn't about one person or one community. It's about a group effort and how the group has worked together to make it happen."
Andrew Brooks, 12, feels good about how the Tri-County Complex is coming along.
"I played (hockey) in Oromocto before and I had to drive a half-hour or more to get to all of my games and practices," he says.
Once the complex opens, he'll be able to play hockey much closer to home.
Like others in the community, Brooks has been fundraising as well as doing physical labour to help get the complex built. He was part of the team that worked on the bowling room sub floor, for example.
He is also the grandson of Garry Brooks, know locally as the Ice Man, who died in a recent tragic accident in the community. The birthday party room in the complex will be named in honour of Garry Brooks.
That's something that makes Andrew Brooks proud.
"I think he'd like it," he says, as his grandfather was a big supporter of the complex and dedicated to hockey in the local community.
He got the name Ice Man, says Andrew Brooks, "because he stayed up all night flooding our outdoor rink with the hose and he had his little watering can to fill in the holes and the corners."
It's a memory that makes Andrew Brooks smile.
Kristin Bennett, 14, also plays hockey and looks forward to being able to play on an indoor rink close to home.
"It's amazing," she says of the Tri-County Complex. "We never really had a hockey program. We started with the outdoor rink and it was always so cold, we froze our feet."
Valerie Webb notes, "Sometimes when these kids came off the outdoor surface, they were so frosted we didn't know who was who."
Yet they didn't let even the worst snowstorms stop them - with a little help from Garry Brooks.
"Garry used to bring the dozer down and if it was bad, he'd take the dozer and take the snow off the ice," says Bennett.
Scott Webb, 15, says he thinks the project is great.
"I don't have to travel as far to play hockey," he says.
He's also learned a few skills thanks to work he has done on the complex.
"Scott actually learned to drywall in this building," says Valerie Webb, Scott's mother. "All three of these kids have been very active in all kinds of fundraisers."
Bennett says that the complex won't just be good for kids in the community, it will be good for people of all ages.
"This project has been an incredible life lesson for these kids, because they see what their parents have done and what their grandparents have done to make it come true," says Valerie Webb. "It's going to leave a legacy for these kids. They're going to tell their grandchildren one day about how they were raising money and crackfilling and saving pennies."
It has given the community a sense of ownership in the Tri-County Complex, knowing they had a real part in making it happen. This is something the teens admit to being proud of. And they aren't the only ones.
"I helped lay the tiles in the outside area and I consider that my floor," says Valerie Webb, laughing.
"I think it really brought the community together and we really know how good of a community we actually have because, especially when Garry passed away, it really showed that people cared," says Bennett.
Though the Tri-County Complex is 95 per cent complete, there are still opportunities to help out if you are interested. You can sponsor a seat, for example, or donate to the campaign that is being launched to equip the kitchen in the general purpose room on the upper level. The goal of this campaign is $60,000.
To learn more, call 368-2422 or email info@tri-countycomplex.ca.
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