It was a celebration years in the making. Residents of Steinbach gathered Thursday to officially open the Southeast Event Centre.
Crews broke ground on the project in January 2023. However, as was noted at Thursday morning's grand opening ceremony, the idea for this project was first brought up at City Council level nearly 15 years before that.
Thursday's ceremony included speeches from Lieutenant Governor Anita Neville, Provencher Member of Parliament Ted Falk, Minister of Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Nellie Kennedy, Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, President of Southeast Events Group Grant Lazaruk, Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk, and former resident of Steinbach, professional player and coach Ralph Krueger.
"What a moment this is for our city, our region, and our community," says Southeast Events Group President Grant Lazaruk.
Lazaruk says years ago they asked the question, 'what if?' and today, Steinbach has a beautiful building that will bring the community together 365 days a year.
Lazaruk refers to Thursday's event as "surreal," noting it is a project their group has been working on since 2017.
"And now it's here," he says. " It's a pretty special place for our community. I feel really good."
"This is a community project," says Provencher MP Ted Falk.
Those words were echoed by many of the morning's speakers. It was noted that of the nearly $76 million cost, approximately one-third of that funding came from local families and businesses.
"This facility doesn't happen without that support," says Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, referring to the private funding.
Sport, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Minister Nellie Kennedy says Steinbach is the heart of southeastern Manitoba, and she is most excited for what this building means for young people.
"My heart is full," says Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk, who was the morning's last speaker.
He thanked the business community for being so willing to donate their hard-earned money to make a facility like this possible.
"This is just absolutely an amazing, amazing building," he adds. "And just the way we got here is absolutely incredible."
Funk says his favourite part of the new building is the people and the energy they bring.
"This is a historic moment for our community," adds Funk, noting construction of the Southeast Event Centre is the largest project that Steinbach has ever undertaken.
"We built it for you," said Funk to the crowd, capping off the hour-long program.
The grand opening ceremony also included several short videos showing off some of the special features of the facility, including the walking track, gymnasium/ hall, play zone, and the Steinbach sports heritage gallery.
Thursday morning's ribbon-cutting ceremony was just the tip of the iceberg for a full day of events planned. Following the ceremony was a free community lunch, followed by kid-friendly activities, scheduled tours, and then a free outdoor concert.
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♬ original sound - SteinbachOnline
With files from Adi Loewen