Prince George city council approved a proposal by two councillors to look into holding a 30th anniversary celebration for the CN Centre at its Monday, May 26 meeting.
At the May 5 council meeting, councillors Kyle Sampson and Brian Skakun gave notice that they would ask their peers to approve three recommendations for celebrating the former Prince George Multiplex, which opened on Sept. 30, 1995.
The first directed administration to develop a plan by June 30 for hosting a “fun, financially accessible, safe and community-oriented public event as part of the CN Centre’s 30 anniversary celebration, to be hosted around Sept. 30, 2025.”
The second recommendation directed administration to look for partnerships or funding opportunities for the event while the third had council expressing its intent to pay for the event through its annual contingency fund.
The councillors' report said that while staff are already working on commemorative events for the anniversary, they want to make sure there’s a fun, inclusive, accessible and affordable event for the public to take part in, whether it’s an open house, public skate, concert or something else.
They suggested that CN Rail, which has possessed the naming rights for the venue for the last 20 years, could be a possible partner in arranging this event.
Additionally, they also said it could be a chance to honour elected officials, city staff, contractors and facility staff who helped bring the project to life.
Speaking remotely during the meeting, Sampson said there’s already some great programming getting set up for around the anniversary including a Trooper performance, a Garth Brooks tribute band and the Prince George Cougars’ home opener, but they wanted something “accessible to the masses.”
In chambers, Skakun said the council of the day including former mayor Colin Kinsley put their political capital on the line to get the facility built and it has brought in millions to the local economy over the last three decades.
Coun. Ron Polillo said he wasn’t opposed to spending council’s contingency fund but wanted specifics on costs as there’s a lot of demand for those dollars.
Sampson said they’re looking for a modest event but they didn’t want to prescribe an exact cost before staff have a chance to come up with proposals.
Coun. Tim Bennett said the Standing Committee on Finance and Audit has talked about trying to improve outreach for yearly budget consultations and wondered if some of the funds put aside for that purpose could be used to incorporate it into the anniversary event in some way.
Coun. Garth Frizzell asked how the facility is doing after 30 years. Director of civic facilities Andy Beesley said it’s in good shape but some structural repairs are needed.
Beesley said they would be building envelope repairs like those at the Aquatic Centre, but not as expensive. He added that the Cougars would be on board with participating in the celebrations.
Coun. Cori Ramsay said the City of Prince George turned 110 years old this year and there wasn’t a celebration for that and suggested serving birthday cake at the anniversary celebration might be appropriate.
She also said some kind of legacy project to commemorate the anniversary would be a good way to get the public involved.
Mayor Simon Yu said he couldn’t believe it has been 30 years since he had been a consultant on the project.
