City of Humboldt one step closer to new Broncos tribute facility

A new Humboldt Broncos Tribute Centre is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Humboldt city council voted Thursday to submit an application to the federal and provincial Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). City manager Joe Day says the city is hoping to get 70 per cent of the cost of the new tribute centre covered.

It would honour the 2018 Humboldt Broncos, who were involved in a fatal bus crash in April of that year while on their way to an SJHL playoff game in Nipawin.

“The facility itself is right in the $34 million to $35 million (range) … ICIP can provide up to 73 per cent of funding, so that ends up being right around $25 million that we’re applying for,” he said.

The plan right now is to build onto the existing Elgar Petersen Arena, which Day said is 40 years old and needs a lot of work itself. Last April, the city released a concept plan or vision for a tribute centre to see if there was any support.

“Over the last year or so, we’ve been completing some cases for support going out to some of the industries and that sort of thing to see if they’d be willing to donate or contribute to it. But (we’re) also doing some feasibility studies to ensure that the size, the scale (and) the scope all makes sense from a financial perspective,” Day said.

The addition would include a tribute gallery that would display some of the mementos and stories of the 2018 Broncos, including inspirations that have come out of the tragedy. There are also plans for a second ice arena and community use spaces.

Day said it would take around four months to find out whether the city gets the financial green light. After that, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“We’re going to be moving out, talking to some of our local stakeholders as well as other stakeholders to ensure that we keep moving forward with the design of the facility so that it really — as best as it can — serve so many different groups within the community,” he added.

Day said they’re also working with the Bronco Memorial Committee and several families.

On April 6, 2018, a semi and the Broncos’ bus crashed at a rural intersection near Tisdale. In the wake of the collision, 16 people on the bus died and 13 others were hurt.