Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

ALBERTA WINTER GAMES ENMAX WALL REMNANT MURAL

Date

1996

Materials

CERAMIC, BRICK, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Height

60.5

Length

35.3

Width

10.4

Description

SQUARE WHITE CERAMIC TILE ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE GLUED TO PLYWOOD AND MAJORITY OF PLYWOOD MORTARED TO RED BRICKS. TILES MEASURE 5CM BY 5CM WITH GREY GROUT OUTLINING. SIGNIFICANT CHIPPING ON RIGHT SIDE OF TILES. BLACK MARKER SQUIGGLES ALONG LEFT AND BOTTOM TILES. MULTIPLE SIGNATURES WRITTEN ON THE TILES IN SILVER MARKER. "GARY BOWIE CHAIRMAN 1996. GOLD JENNIFER BLOCK ARCHERY ZONE 1. EVALING ZONE 1 KEV... AMANDA LIEVERSE #4 RINGETTE ZONE 6 1996... MEL CLEWES VICE CHAIRMAN 1996"

Subjects

BUILDING COMPONENT

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

SPORTS

History

ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2021, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN, INTERVIEWED LEN OVERBEEKE, REGARDING AN ASSORTMENT OF SPORTS EVENTS AWARDS AND MEMORABILIA FROM THE ENMAX CENTRE THAT WERE DONATED TO THE MUSEUM. LEN JOINED THE ENMAX CENTRE IN 1988 AS AN OPERATOR, WORKING ON THE DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS OF THE BUILDING, SCHEDULING, AND ATTENDING TO THE FACILITIES. LEN’S POSITION PROGRESSED FROM OPERATOR TO COORDINATOR TO FOREMAN AND SHORTLY AFTER, OPERATIONS MANAGER, WHERE HE CONTINUES TO WORK AT THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW (2021). LEN EXPLAINS HIS PART IN THE PRESERVATION IN THE MURAL, STATING: “[PRIOR TO] THE ALBERTA WINTER GAMES, THEY DID A MURAL IN THE LOBBY OF THE ENMAX CENTRE; AS A REPRESENTATION AFTER THE GAMES WERE OVER… THEY HAD ALL THE ATHLETES AND THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE SIGN A SQUARE. SO, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, THEY WERE – DURING A RENOVATION IT WAS JUST GONNA GET RIPPED DOWN… SO I ACTUALLY HAD DRAWN A LINE SAYING, ‘WE NEED TO CUT THIS PIECE OUT AND SAVE IT BECAUSE THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING TO SHOW THE MURAL THAT WAS THERE AND SAVE IT BECAUSE THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING TO SHOW THE MURAL THAT WAS THERE...THE REASON I DID THAT IS 'CAUSE MEL CLEWES - HE WAS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WINTER GAMES... IT WAS CENTRED AROUND MEL, AS THE CHAIRMAN, AND THIS ENTIRE WALL WAS SIGNED BY ALL THE ATHLETES THAT WRE THERE… [THE MURAL] WAS THE SIGNATURES, BUT IT WAS [ALSO] A MURAL. IT WAS THE MOUNTAINS – SO YOU HAD THE LANDSCAPE AND THEN, AS YOU WENT UP, YOU HAD THE MOUNTAINS AND SUN, AND SO IT WAS A FULL-ON MURAL…IT [WAS] SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT THEY HAD ON THE COVER OF THEIR RULES BOOK…BUT IT WAS… SIMILAR… IT WAS LOCATED ON THE WEST WALL OF WHAT WAS THE HURRICANES GENERAL OFFICE… THEN DURING ONE OF THOSE RENOVATIONS, THAT WHOLE WALL CAME OUT…SO YOU WOULD WALK IN AND TO THE RIGHT, THAT MURAL WOULD COVER THE ENTIRE WALL…[THE MURAL] WAS JUST PART OF THE WINTER GAMES COMMITTEE, AS A MEMORIAL OF THE EVENT AND WHAT THEY COULD DO AND HOW THEY COULD DO IT. SO, SOMEHWERE ALONG THE LINE, SOMEBODY SAID, 'WE NEED TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT WILL REFLECT THIS EVENT THAT WE'VE HOSTED.' JUST LIKE IF YOU LOOK AT THE ENMAX CENTRE CURRENTLY AND YOU WALK IN ON THE EAST LOBBY, TO THE LEFT YOU WILL SEE THE ORIGINAL CANADA GAMES SPORTSPLEX PLAQUE. THAT FELT MARK [ON THE MURAL] WOULD HAVE BEEN MINE…THAT MURAL WAS PROBABLY EIGHT FEET HIGH AND FOURTEEN FEET WIDE…” LEN EXPLAINS HIS TIME WORKING AT THE ENMAX, SAYING, "IN ’96 I STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN BASICALLY ACTING AS AN OPERATOR SO MAKING SURE WHEN I WAS THERE FOR MY SHIFT …WAS MAKING SURE THE ACTIVITY WENT OFF AND EVERYTHING WAS SET UP – EVERYTHING WAS DONE THAT WAS ASKED FOR, WHETHER IT BE THE ROOMS, WHETHER IT BE TABLES AND CHAIRS, WHETHER IT BE ICE, WHETHER IT BE THE BASKETBALL FLOOR. WE STILL HAVE THE ORIGINAL 1974 FLOOR THAT WAS BUILT FOR THE ’75 GAMES. HARDWOOD FLOOR THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT OF WORK TO LAY DOWN ‘CAUSE IT IS QUITE OLD BUT, DOING THINGS OF THAT NATURE, INTRICATELY KNOWING HOW TO DO THAT IS A HUGE THING, AS WELL…EVERYTHING THAT TAKES PLACE AT THE ENMAX CENTRE HAS IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY AND SOUTHERN ALBERTA …IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS THE BUILDING IS THERE, IS TO PROVIDE THAT OPPORTUNITY, TO HAVE THOSE IMPACTS AND TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES WHETHER IT BE FOR SPORTS OR CONCERTS OR WHATEVER THAT HAPPENS TO BE. SO, FROM A SPORTING WORLD, IT BRINGS MORE PEOPLE TOGETHER BECAUSE OF THE BUY-IN BY THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND LETHBRIDGE. YOU’RE TALKING HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS, OF VOLUNTEERS, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HOURS FROM THOSE VOLUNTEERS AND FROM THE VARIOUS COMMITTEES ASSOCIATED WITH IT. AND THAT’S WHERE, WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THE MURAL, FOR EXAMPLE, IT WASN’T JUST THE ATHLETES THAT GOT TO SIGN, IT WAS PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE ACTUAL RUNNING OF THE GAMES AND THAT WHICH – THEY CAN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT THOSE PEOPLE...IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO HAVE THE FORESIGHT TO LOOK AT THE EVENT, TO KNOW WHAT THE POTENTIAL ARE, TO KNOW WHO THEY WOULD REACH OUT IN THEIR HEADS TO HELP RUN THE EVENT - THOSE EVENTS WON’T HAPPEN. THERE HAS TO BE A DRIVING FORCE; SOMEBODY’S WILLING TO STEP OUT AND TAKE THAT ON IN ADDITION TO THEIR OWN POSITIONS OF WHEREVER THEY HAPPEN TO BE WORKING. AND WE SEE THAT ALL OF THE TIME WITH THE MAJOR FIGURE SKATING COMPETITIONS THAT THE ENMAX CENTRE HOLDS, THE MAJOR CURLING COMPETITIONS. THERE’S A GROUP OF PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT TAKE THAT ON AND MAKE SURE THAT THOSE EVENTS ARE BROUGHT HERE SO THAT SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND LETHBRIDGE CAN ENJOY THEM. AND THAT’S A HUGE PART OF EVERY SPORTING EVENT THAT TAKES PLACE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, NOT JUST AT THE ENMAX CENTRE.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES AND PHOTOS REFERENCED, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190033001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190033005

Acquisition Date

2019-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail