TRINITY WESTERN WELCOMES THE OPENING OF NEW LANGLEY EVENT CENTRE

Dr. Blair Whitmarsh

Trinity Western University and Spartan Athletics
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
LEC Opening

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TRINITY WESTERN WELCOMES THE OPENING OF NEW LANGLEY EVENT CENTRE

LANGLEY, British Columbia – On June 13th under much fanfare the township of Langley’s Langley Event Centre (LEC) officially opened its doors. The opening ceremonies included a number of key speeches from local dignitaries, which included Trinity Western University Dean of Human Kinetics Dr. Blair Whitmarsh.

“This facility that we have built here in Langley will bring people together and will bring people from other areas here like no other facility that we have. It is a tremendous opportunity for Trinity Western to be able to partner in this facility and to be able to engage in this facility,” said Whitmarsh.

“Trinity Western has been a proud member of this community since 1962 and we are excited to continue to be a part of this community. We want you to be excited that Trinity Western is your University! So whether we are in this facility playing against the Cascades from Abbotsford, whether we are playing against the Clan from Simon Fraser or whether we are beating the Thunderbirds badly in a game in this gym, the TWU Spartans are your team! And we look forward to having you come join us at our events this season,” continued an enthusiastic Whitmarsh.

The Langley Events Centre, at 7888 200th St., took more than two years to make with a cost of over 56 million dollars. Trinity Western contributed three and a half million dollars to the capital cost of the building and the school also holds a 20-year renewable operating agreement for the gym section of the facility.

The LEC boasts of an Arena Bowl with seating for up to 6,000 people. It will host hockey, lacrosse, basketball, figure skating shows, and volleyball, and will have five different concert setups, a triple gymnasium, an exhibition and banquet centre.  The Willoughby Community Centre will be housed there and includes a fitness centre and multi-purpose rooms. 20,000 square feet of space of The LEC will also be home to The Langley Gymnastics Foundation, and the centre will also have a visitor information centre, Tourism Langley offices and a future Community Police Office.

Trinity Western University is pleased to be moving the home games of the Spartans men’s and women’s volleyball and basketball teams to the Langley Event Centre. The teams will begin competition at the LEC beginning this fall with Canada West Conference play beginning Oct. 30th for volleyball and Nov. 20th for basketball.

Since Trinity Western entered the Canadian Interuniversity Sport in 1999, Spartan student-athletes have accumulated a number of significant awards including two CIS Player of the Year awards, a CIS Elite Eight Academic All-Canadian award, two CIS Rookie of the Year awards, a CIS Libero of the Year award, two CIS community service awards and numerous CIS All-Canadian and Canada West All-Star awards. In nine years as members of the CIS, the Spartans have won three national titles (women's soccer in 2004 and 2008 and men's volleyball in 2006), nine CIS championship medals, an individual CIS national championship and six Canada West championships.

“In the CIS this will be one of the best facilities in the country. We were so excited about this that before the facility was even built we bid on the 2011 CIS men’s volleyball championships and we were successful in getting them even before the ground was dug or the first shovel was put in for the building. And here we are today excited about the championships that we will be bringing here to this community on behalf of Langley,” said Whitmarsh.

The Spartans will be hosting the 2011 CIS men’s volleyball championship at the LEC March 4-6, 2011.

Trinity Western is a member of both the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).  TWU offers 42 undergraduate and 16 graduate degree programs through its Langley campus, including specialty programs offered at TWU’s Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa, the Crow’s Nest Ecological Study Area on Salt Spring Island BC and at is Bellingham WA campus. TWU’s School of Business recently launched an MBA program, and the new School of Nursing will be offering a Master of Science in Nursing this fall.

As Canada’s premier Christian university, TWU provides exemplary academic programs that have earned national recognition: TWU has received three consecutive A+ ratings for “overall quality of education” in The Globe and Mail Canadian University Report Card, and recently ranked first in Canada for “enriching educational experience” as reported in Maclean’s.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2009-06-30
Author: Scott Stewart