CANMORE – The 35-year-old scoreboard at the Alex Kaleta arena will soon be replaced thanks to a $15,000 sponsorship deal with the Crossway Community Thrift store.
The non-profit organization will provide the Town of Canmore $7,500 in 2019 and $7,500 in 2020 in return for their organization’s logo being displayed on score clocks in both the Alex Kaleta and Thelma Crow arenas.
“The score clock in the Alex Kaleta arena has served the hockey players of this community well over the past 35 years; it is now however difficult to obtain parts and is becoming unreliable,” said Jim Younker, manager of recreation.
The score clock was identified for replacement within the Town’s six-year capital budget in 2020, however during budget deliberations council removed the item from the funded list and indicated it would be an ideal project for a community sponsor.
In response, Crossway Community Thrift stepped up to cover the cost of the replacing the electronic score board, which was estimated to cost $13,000.
“We’ve been trying to get more involved in the community and just bring the awareness of who and what we are into the community,” said Len Buckley, executive officer with Crossway Community Thrift.
“Lots of people know we’re a store, but they don’t know how we’re involved in supporting the community we live in.”
In order to replace the scoreboard this year the town will use $7,500 from its general capital reserves in 2019 with $7,500 being returned to the general capital reserve in 2020.
In 2006, Can Bow Motors donated money from a community trade show to purchase the score clock in the Thelma Crowe arena in return for having the company’s name added to the sign.
According to the staff report, the Can Bow sign will remain up on the Thelma Crowe score clock until 2026, although it may be realigned to accommodate the new Crossway Community Thrift sign.
Several councillors expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the non-profit organization prior to unanimously approving the sponsorship deal at council’s regular business meeting on Tuesday (March 5).
“It’s great to have a community sponsor support the scoreboard replacement for the Alex Kaleta arena,” said Rob Seeley. “I’m happy to support this initiative and I want to thank Mr. Buckley and Crossway Community Thrift for making this generous community contribution.”
