The Niverville Nighthawks are in the process of making a major addition to their home rink this fall. The state-of-the-art Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC) opened three years ago, and it’s set to increase its capacity.
From the standpoint of the team’s board of directors, every aspect of the CRRC venue was a major success during the inaugural season.
“I could not believe the community support and the amount of volunteers that came out for every event to help our organization be successful,” says Scott Wallace, head of infrastructure for the Nighthawks. “We had some challenges along the way, but for an inaugural season, it met and exceeded my own personal expectations, mainly because of the success of our volunteers, the town of Niverville, and our ownership group.”
The board is now in the process of installing additional seating with a second level in the northeast corner of the arena, through the help of a government grant. The CRRC’s seating capacity currently sits at approximately 700 seats, but this will increase to 1,000 after the upgrades are complete.
The upgrades will include a bar area on the main floor, main floor seating, and a second-level seating/gathering area.
All infrastructure added to the CRRC by the Nighthawks will also transfer to town ownership. The team has been working closely with the Town of Niverville to accomplish and align its goals as a community-based club.
“These new seats aren’t necessarily required in year two of the Nighthawks, but as an organization such as this, we need to be planning not only for the Nighthawks but potentially attracting other major events for the town, such as major curling bonspiels, winter games, and convention events in the summer,” says Wallace.
Wallace believes that the upgraded seating will be a great feature to help people to meet and mingle during Nighthawks games, but it goes much further than that.
“Companies can have team events in this area, and it will definitely be required for any playoff run we have,” says Wallace. “As we build our Nighthawks culture, the goal is to ensure the community understands the team belongs to them, as without community support there is no team. We couldn’t be more impressed with our community support.”
The Nighthawks are in the midst of the construction phase, having signed a contract with Three Way Builders to complete the work. As of right now, the materials are being procured and manufactured. The project will take roughly three months from the start of construction onsite.
Construction is slated to begin in late August and be complete by the end of November or early December.
“The home games will not be overly affected, as we only had limited use of this space, which only allowed for 40 to 50 people at best,” Wallace says. “The area will be boarded so the construction is not visible during events.”
