Bear Mountain Arena
Colwood, British Columbia

The Bear Mountain Arena is the stuff of legends. It came in under budget and on time, the best of its size and cost anywhere. This "little gem" of an arena officially opened in February 2004 and has received praise for the warmth, intimacy, and tastefulness of its interior design. The interior colours are appealing, the seating and foot room are terrific, and the dressing rooms, usually the biggest source of complaint at any arena, are spacious, well equipped, and plentiful. The Bear Mountain Arena has a big-event feel but not the big event volume of seats; there's not bad seat in the house. The bowl design of this facility has the 2,300 seats encircling the ice and giving a feeling of a "mini GM Place". Everyone will be close to and get a great view of the action. The "fur" is definitely on the inside of this Bear making an interior that is highly functional and cost effective yet still warm, inviting, and comfortable.

The multi-hued cloth banners and the three-dimensional murals on the end wall do double duty, acting as baffles as well as being decorative. There are no echoes or sound reverberations when the state-of-the-art digital sound system is cranked up. The boards are seamless Plexiglas and are NHL calibre... literally! They were bought from the Florida Panthers, who used the boards and glass for only one season before putting them on the market. The score clock, purchased from the recently demolished Victoria Memorial Arena, brings with it a history of 50 years of hockey, skating, and lacrosse in Victoria.

This facility is the new home to the Victoria Salsa Minor Hockey Club, the Victoria Shamrocks lacrosse team, West Shore Minor Hockey, Juan de Fuca Minor Lacrosse, the Juan de Fuca Figure Skating Club, the temporary home of the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL, as well as being open for tradeshows community events, and concerts.