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Springbrook Community Centre
located in the recreation and commercial
complex
Community Events
Room Rental
excellent
facility for
Receptions, Weddings,
Parties, Banquets,
Meetings, Seminars
operated by
the
Springbrook
Community Association
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The Evolution of the Recreation Complex --
The Springbrook Recreation Centre was built in 1951 as a
6 acre multi-purpose
sports and entertainment facility for personnel living at Canadian Forces Base Penhold,
as part of the recommissioning of the area as a NATO base. The original
property comprised of a 42,100 square
foot multi-purpose building housing a store, restaurant, gymnasium,
280-seat cinema/theatre, bowling alley, snack bar and shooting range. A separate building housed
the arena. Other facilities included a 3,240 square foot outdoor
swimming pool, tennis courts, a track as well as fields for soccer,
softball and fastball.

As the NATO base wound
down, the facilities continued to be used for the various other military
uses of the base, including the summer air cadet training program that
continues to this day.
When the base was sold to private developers in 1995, the recreation
complex was operated by the developers for a few years, later by a
fitness management company under the name 'Mynarski Park Recreation
Centre'. The store was leased under the name 'JJ's' and the restaurant
became a licensed sports bar called 'Big League'. There was also a hair
salon for a time.
The arena was operated as a 4-sheet curling rink, lounge and concession
for several years and in 2005 was sold for use as a hockey training
school and for other training purposes. The sports fields, including
tennis courts, soccer pitches, softball field, fastball field, track and
campground became the responsibility of Red Deer County and several
sports activities were arranged by the Springbrook Community
Association.
In
2004, the main recreation complex, including the store, restaurant,
theatre, gymnasium, bowling alley and fitness rooms, was purchased by
Bear Training Centre with the intention of using the facility both for
community fitness and as a training facility.
The store was re-opened
as 'Springbrook General Store' featuring fresh baked goods, subs and
sandwiches, pizza, coffee, ice cream, groceries, an ATM machine and
movie rentals. The restaurant was temporarily re-opened as a licensed sports bar.
During 2005 and into 2006, Bear Training Centre launched their Roughneck
Training program, designed specifically for preparing people to enter
the oil and gas drilling industry. The program included pre-employment floorman, rig training, rig safety, life skills, fitness and injury
prevention.
The theatre was modified to accommodate children's and birthday parties,
weddings, banquets, meetings and beer gardens.
In 2007, the facility was taken over by Trinidad Drilling as a training
centre for the oilpatch.
The fitness and wellness area was upgraded to
include a tanning salon, sauna, cardio equipment and weight room. In the
process, the bowling alley was taken out. Space not needed for training
was leased out including the former theatre to the Springbrook Community
Association for a community centre.
In 2010, both the store and the pub and grill closed and Trinidad put
the building up for sale. The store has been leased out
to a new operator and is expected to re-open in April.
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