TIMMINS - The Municipal Heritage Committee is moving along with recognizing local historic buildings, and I for one am thrilled to see this work happening in our community.
The log home on Wilson and the city hall building are the two applications that have been recently designated by Timmins city council. A third building is currently in the pipeline and if all goes well, the McIntyre Community Building and arena will join the growing list. If you don’t know the history of the McIntyre, you are probably wondering why that spot is being considered for recognition – if you have been in Timmins for a while, you might be thinking “what took ‘em so long”.
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The local lore and the historical facts speak to a rink steeped in legend. The Mac was/is home to many legendary local hockey teams, and quite a few NHLers to boot, including the Mahovlich brothers, Bill Barilko, Paul Harrison, Allan Stanley, Dean Prentice, Murray Costello and his brother Les, Steve Sullivan and so many others. It also served as the headquarters for the world-famous Schumacher Skating School. The Mac has hosted umpteen concerts, circuses, conferences, trade shows, banquets, craft shows and horticultural exhibitions. It has been used to say good-bye to prominent citizens (Father Les Costello), and to ordain local Catholic Bishops. I would go even so far as to say that “the Mac” is the heart of our city.
When the idea of the McIntyre centre came up in the 1930s, it could be said that the communities of Timmins, Schumacher, Porcupine and South Porcupine were deeply invested in all things sports. Skating rinks, ball diamonds, football fields, soccer pitches, rugby grounds, athletics facilities and a golf course were well used by residents. Tennis, cricket and lacrosse were also popular activities. It goes without saying that healthy rivalries developed between the hockey, baseball, softball and soccer teams in the area, thanks in part to the rivalries existing between the local mining companies. Competition between the mines in sporting events was taken almost as seriously as the business competition that existed between them; in some instances, men were hired more for their ability to shoot a puck or hit a baseball than to work a stope. Management believed that the push for organized sports at work would discourage the workers from meeting and unionizing, while others felt that it was a way to keep men busy and out of the taverns and the somewhat ohh-la-la establishments in town.
J.P. Bickell, then-president of the McIntyre Mine, and a man who never shied away from a big project, thought the construction of an arena comparable to Maple Leaf Gardens was a necessity in Schumacher. He (and his money) had come into the hockey business when the Toronto Arena Company went bankrupt and Charlie Querrie needed financial help to keep a pro team in Toronto. The Toronto St. Patricks were formed and the team won a Stanley Cup in 1922. When Querrie sold his share of the team in February 1927 to a group headed by Conn Smythe, Bickell kept his stake in the team, which was renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs. The partners would go on to build Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931. Bickell would serve as the first president of Maple Leaf Gardens and chairman of the board for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Inspired by the success of that arena, Bickell saw no reason why the Porcupine could not also benefit from a state-of-the-art rink and community centre (there’s that big thinking again). The McIntyre arena was built in Schumacher in November 1937, and opened to the public with natural ice in January 1938. The ice plant was later added with the community centre addition later in 1938. The total cost was just over $500,000. McIntyre Mine employees received coupons every month that allowed them and their families to use the facility which included not only the rink (seating 2,000 people), but a gymnasium, a six-lane bowling alley, six sheets of ice for curling, a private mirrored skating room, a lounge, a coffee shop, a 500-seat auditorium and a beautiful park.
During the opening ceremonies, Bickell addressed the capacity crowd at centre ice with these words: “The pick and shovel man must know that he is every bit as welcome as the highest mine executive. This structure has been erected so that all classes of the McIntyre family may have the facilities for increased sport and amusement. Soon after the main building was completed we saw that added facilities for such sports as basketball, curling and bowling would be necessary. Accordingly, we began immediately to plan for an addition. Let us have here all the facilities for a happy, contented community. I think that I might say that you men and your families have more facilities under one roof than any other community in Canada”.
The story of the McIntyre is one that is well-known across the country. Not only is its history linked to sports in the North, but the Mac stands as a testament to the early leaders in our community who were not afraid to make bold decisions and take risks to help make this a good place to live, work and play.