Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 06/02) - Want your name on Yellowknife's new arena? You can, but it'll cost you half a million dollars.

Want your name on a dressing room? There are 10 available; sponsorship fee is $20,000 each.

Construction is starting in earnest on the $11 million twin-pad facility. But everything from player's boxes to trophy cases to the Zamboni will be for sale to the highest bidder before any of the structure is built.

The dollar values have been calculated by a volunteer fundraising committee, which is trying to raise the $2.8 million needed to put ice on both arena pads this year.

The current plan for the arena is to build the entire structure and have one ice surface operational by September. The city has said it will prepare the second surface for ice when it comes up with enough money.

Currently, both existing arenas are averaging about 95 per cent usage per week. One new surface wouldn't change that, since the Gerry Murphy is scheduled to close permanently this May.

"We need three ice surfaces now, not five years from now," said committee member Joe Walsh.

To raise the money, the committee is asking each group that will benefit from the facility to begin fundraising. A majority of revenue is expected to come from sales of sponsorship.

"We're looking at selling advertising to anything in that facility that we can sell advertising to," said Doug Ashby, vice-chair of the fundraising committee.

A sponsorship brochure listing all of the sponsorship possibilities is scheduled for release in early April.

Ashby said that advertising would be discreet. Last year, some concerned citizens complained about liquor advertising in the arena.

"My understanding is we wouldn't tell any (advertiser) no, but whatever they put in there has to be sensitive: we've got little kids going in there."

Construction beginning

Work on the arena site jumped to life last week.

Workers from Bernie's Ltd. began a month-long process of installing pilings.

"Our tendering will be completed for the majority of the building by the end of March and awarded by the early part of April," said Grant White, city director of community services.

"We are on schedule for September."

Work stopped at the site after Christmas tenders for the building's foundation were too high, forcing the city to amend its specifications for a cheaper foundation.

Pieces of the arena's pre-fabricated shell are to be assembled in late spring.

While one ice surface should be ready by September, the gymnasium and space for the gymnastics club won't be completed until later in the fall.