Winnipeg Arena demolition draws crowds

A new spectator sport is emerging in Winnipeg: watching the old Winnipeg Arena as it's torn apart, piece by piece.

Demolition crews have been working on the "old barn" for weeks, tearing off walls and exposing the inner workings of the Polo Park area arena.

The operation is drawing quite an audience, to the surprise of some demolition workers, who aren't used to performing in front of a crowd.

"I usually work at a yard where there's nobody watching, so it's a little bit different now," said Chris Smith, a demolition worker on the site.

George Stevens came by on his lunch break to watch the tear-down work and wax nostalgic about the former arena, which was replaced by the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg.

"I guess it's sad in some ways," he said. "I think of the Winnipeg Jets and I think about the whole concept of the NHL."

"When our children were growing up, we had tickets here and we'd bring them one or two at a time, because we had four boys and a girl and we couldn't bring them all at once," recalls Mary Rody, parked next to Stevens to watch the work.

'Comfortable and powerful'

Not all of the observers have such sentimental thoughts, though. Rody's husband, Fred, is more interested in the machinery than the memories.

"I like to watch this kind of stuff," he said. "It's quite an expensive machine here, I wanted to see how it operates."

The machinery being used to do the bulk of the demolition is quite impressive; some of it was used at World Trade Centre after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Many in the crowd may secretly wish they could be Jack Fatla, the man behind one of the machines.

Barely concealing a grin, Fatla concedes the work is enjoyable, but he says there's a lot more to tearing down a building than just smashing apart concrete.

"It's very comfortable and powerful," he said. "It looks easy, but it's not that easy sometimes, you know."

There's still plenty of time to check out the show: demolition of the Winnipeg Arena isn't scheduled to end until late May.

courtesy CBC Manitoba