Heavy Metal Place - Spruce Grove | ?m | ?s | GEC Architecture

[husky]

Heavy Metal Place

Stay up to date on the latest developments surrounding Heavy Metal Place.

www.sprucegrove.org

https://www.sprucegrove.org/media/7743/3.jpg

The new civic centre in Spruce Grove (now Heavy Metal Place) is well under construction. The facility will feature two ice surfaces, one with a 1400 spectator capacity and one with a 250 seat capacity. The centre will also host a satellite branch of the Spruce Grove Public Library, a black box theatre, an art gallery, and an indoor community walking track. The total project cost is estimated to be around $73 million.

Spruce Grove's first transit centre and park and ride is also part of the development and opened in December 2024. This has already spurred development in the area with an apartment building (~120 units) already approved for construction immediately adjacent the transit centre facility.

 

[SMayo]

That's a 10/10 name for the facility!

 

[Gronk!]

 

[BrettB]

Sounds like a perfect concert venue

 

[husky]

Facility is now open: https://www.sprucegrove.org/government/news/heavy-metal-place-is-officially-open/

 

[supaflyryguy]

It's a big boring box from the outside, but I guess that's what people want out in the burbs.

 

[strata]

I'm not sure I would paint that brush of everyone that lives in Spruce Grove...

But I would agree that in smaller municipalities, especially ones that have limited tax bases that are mostly residential, there are very real and limited budgets for projects like these, and residents prioritize allocating most of that budget to function and amenities instead of architecture.

On the other hand, I look at some of the facilities that Strathcona County has built in Sherwood Park, where the industrial tax base largely subsidizes the residential one...and there are some pretty impressive civic buildings that do not race to the bottom on the exterior design.