Out with the dated but very historic Memorial Arena and in with the new age South Okanagan Events Center. When the Penticton Valley First Vees play their last game on Friday Sept 26th against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at the old barn on Power Street and the lights get turned off, a new era of hockey and entertainment will commence in the city of Penticton.

Although many memorable games and seasons of hockey have been played at Memorial, the time is now and the people from Penticton and the surrounding areas are soon to enjoy the new building. The SOEC will be new but with it, will come a very different hockey atmosphere. The smaller confines and that homey feel of Penticton Memorial Arena will exit, while the much larger and big city glitz and glamour will enter with the SOEC.

The SOEC was designed by NORR Architectural Services, Inc and Giffels. Global Spectrum Facility Management has been contracted by the City of Penticton to manage, operate and maintain this new state of the art facility. Global Spectrum also manages 72 facilities throughout North America and is part of the worlds largest sports and entertainment companies, Comcast-Spectator. Comcast-Spectator also owns the likes of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL as well as the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association to name a few.

This new home of the Vees will be the class of the BCHL that will include many unique features including retractable seating as well as many high tech features both inside the building as well as outside. The 50,000 square foot roof will be supported by clear trusses which are supported by two columns.

Another impressive feature will be the comparable NHL quality four sided score clock that will be an amazing site in itself. The venue also has one concourse full of wide open space as well as the newly named Valley First Vault Bar and Grill.

The "Vault" will seat 150 patrons and feature world-class cuisine and wide variety of famous Okanagan fine wines. The SOEC will also be a Green facility that will incorporate a high standard and utilize many different systems to maintain this practice. One of the many features includes the "Eco Chill artificial ice system. This system offers the potential of 100% heat recovery from the refrigeration system, providing significant potential operating cost savings and the GHG emissions reduction.

A few other interesting Event Center Facts include : cost to build 70 million plus, 5,000 pounds of of steel were used to build the events center, there will be three main entrances, six concession stands, twenty eight luxury suites, A Penticton Vees fan store will be housed in complex, The BC Hockey Hall Of Fame will be housed in complex, Hockey Seating Capacity is 5,200, First Hockey Game - September 27, 2008 against the Westside Warriors, First Concert - October 14, 2008 Fiest.

SOEC Director of Marketing and front man Ryan McCarthy states," with upwards of 1,400 seasons tickets sold for Vees games, we are hoping for a 2,000 paid attendance per game!"

With a jump in ticket prices which now are comparable to the WHL Kelowna Rockets, its going to be interesting to see just what kind of numbers the Vees do draw on a continual basis.

I'm quite sure that the Vernon's and Salmon Arms of the world may draw upwards to 2,500 however, I can't say the same about the Merritt's and Quesnel's of the world. Times are sure to be challenging and much different when it comes to the game of hockey in the South Okanagan in the very near future.