From the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Center:
Many managers at the time felt that organized sports was a good way to keep men busy and to distract them from unionizing or getting into trouble. Others felt it was a nice way to keep busy and out of the taverns and other less respectable establishments.
Hockey hit it off in the region especially once the rail was done in 1911. Teams were able to travel and play tournaments against each other from neighbouring towns. Hockey is still one of the most popular pastimes in the winter for the region. Over 40 players have made it to the NHL from the Porcupine Camp since as early as 1928.
Many arenas were built across the city for hockey, curling, and figure skating. The most popular location was, and remains to be, the McIntyre Arena. Built in 1938, it was the most impressive in the region. It was also the home to North America’s only summer skating school outside Salt Lake City, Utah. Many travelled to practice here including top skater Barbara Ann Scott.
The arena sat 2,000 people with a separate figure skating rink, 6 sheets of curling ice, a gymnasium, a 500-seat auditorium, a bowling alley, and restaurant.
Diaries of the past also say that the McIntyre Coffee Shop had the best French fries in the world.
McIntyre employees were given coupons each month to use towards recreation.
Each week, the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre provides TimminsToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.
Find out more of what the Timmins Museum has to offer at www.timminsmuseum.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here.
