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Golden Ticket Sports Centre new name for former Hillcrest Sports Centre building

The history of the Hillcrest Sports Centre will not be forgotten since Golden Ticket plans to highlight the various sports played there and showcase the building’s heritage

It might take some getting used to, especially for regular users, but the Hillcrest Sports Centre has been renamed to the Golden Ticket Sports Centre to reflect the building’s new ownership.

City council unanimously approved the change during the June 14 regular meeting. The building will be called the Golden Ticket Sports Centre for the five-year term of the lease and operating agreement between the municipality and Golden Ticket Sports Inc.

While Golden Ticket can rename the building, there will be no restrictions that prevent city hall from pursuing sponsorship naming rights opportunities for the venue throughout the naming rights term. 

Moose Jaw’s municipal naming policy states that the parks and recreation department will forward all naming requests to the advisory committee for review and to suggest any recommendations to city council, parks director Derek Blais explained. The policy also states that requests to rename existing buildings or venues will be considered if:

  • There are no historical or legacy implications with the name change
  • The park or venue is not named after an individual
  • There are no existing sponsorship naming rights agreements in place

The Hillcrest Sports Centre is currently named after its geographic location, which allows the municipality to consider other naming opportunities and makes reviewing the requests easier, he continued. The parks and recreation department supports the request since it meets the parameters of the naming policy. 

The history of the Hillcrest Sports Centre will not be forgotten or ignored since Golden Ticket plans to highlight the various sports played there and showcase the building’s heritage throughout the venue. 

Golden Ticket Sports will bear the costs for all new signage and other changes. The new operators plan to install non-permanent signs on the building to reflect the new name, help with branding, and differentiate the venue from the adjacent golf course. 

The Hillcrest Sports Centre was constructed in 1968 and is roughly 3,808.35 square metres (42,315 square feet) in size. It was originally built as the Moose Jaw Country Club and contained a 14-sheet curling rink, a golf pro shop, and supporting change rooms and dining rooms for golf and curling, a council report explained. 

In 2008, curling and golf were separated into different entities. The curling rink closed in 2011 after the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre opened, while the Hillcrest Sports Centre was repurposed for multi-purpose recreational use. City hall later entered into a lease agreement with Gymtastiks gymnastics club for the exclusive use of the building. 

The gymnastics club terminated that agreement on Jan. 1, 2021, since it moved to a different location. On May 10, council approved a new lease and operating agreement with Golden Ticket Sports for the operation and programming of the building.

The next regular council meeting is Monday, June 28. 

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