Community gathers for Steinbach Event Centre grand opening

Downtown Steinbach was buzzing Aug. 21, as the Southeast Event Centre’s (SEC) officially opened to the public. Around 450 people were in attendance to celebrate the largest project in the town’s history, after more than 30 years in the making.

The $75 million multi-purpose arena replaced the Centennial Arena, which was demolished in 2023.

Former NHL head coach, Ralph Krueger, spoke at the event. His family home was on the same land as the event centre, one of many properties the city bought to make room for the centre.

“The outside rink was 100 metres away from our house, and I wandered over regularly. Eventually with my skates in tow from the age of four,” said Krueger. “The continuous freezing of my fingers and toes improved after Steinbach’s first indoor arena was built in 1967.”

His family purchased part of the land where the Southeast Event Centre stood in 1959. When his father passed away 50 years later, the property was sold to the city.

He said he took his first steps on the ice in the Centennial Arena.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but on those ice surfaces, I discovered my professional vehicle for life. Sports and especially ice hockey,” said Kruger. “My hard drive was built in Steinbach. As an athlete, as a leader, and as a person.”

The project was funded with $25.5 million in private community donations, $33 million from the municipality, and $18.5 million from the province, according to Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk.

“It speaks volumes to the kind of community we have, and how they’re invested in our community,” Funk said. “We’re very committed to our downtown and we want to see it thrive. We don’t want it to be a ghost town.”

He said this project is the largest in the city’s history.

“I’m just overwhelmed,” said Funk.

The event centre, which seats roughly 2,400 for hockey games, also features a walking track, restaurants, and a sports hall of fame of local athletes.

“There’s a lot of great sports stars who have come out of Steinbach, but I think this will generate even more,” said Funk.

Head coach of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Steinbach Pistons, Paul Dyck, and the team moved into the facility in March.

He said he sees the value in this facility more than just the Pistons’ home, and he looks forward to seeing people walking on the track, grabbing a coffee, and being active.

Dyck said the facility will “inject lots of tourism dollars” into Steinbach.

Delicia Reimer, a Steinbach resident of four years and a big Pistons fan, said the Southeast Event Centre is a sign Steinbach is growing.

“It’s more than ice and seats. It’s a place to walk when the snow piles up. It’s a place to sip some coffee, read a book, cheer on a team, and dine with your friends,” said Grant Lazaruk, HyLife president and CEO. “It’s a place where artists and athletes intersect.”

For ten-year Steinbach resident Pat Gerbrandt, 73, she wasn’t sure about Southeast Event Centre’s location at first.

She said she thought it would take up too much of the footprint in the area, and people who live down the street would be bothered by noise levels.

“I love trees and green space, so I was a little concerned about that,” she said. “But it’s nice to see the plants that have been planted.”

Gerbrandt walks multiple times a week and will be using the walking track once the weather gets colder.

The Southeast Event Centre was a long-awaited want from the community.

MLA Kelvin Goertzen said the last couple of years at the Centennial Arena, multiple times a day people would come to him and say they need a new arena, and ask him why Steinbach can’t have nice things.

“Well we got nice things now,” he said. “Today, Steinbach has a nice thing…but there are other things this community needs as well. There are other nice things that our community needs for gathering places and other types of facilities.”

“Don’t think of this as a culmination of something or a completion of something. This is just another part of the journey of Steinbach,” he said.