No more cold feet for Elvis fans;

By SHARON WEATHERALL, ENTERPRISE BULLETIN SPECIAL
July 18, 2008

In past years, fans who watched Elvis tribute artists performing in the Eddie Bush Arena were curling their toes by the end of a show -- but it was not from watching the King. Sitting on temporary plywood flooring gave many people 'cold feet' and created condensation in the venue.

Thanks to $75,000 from Celebrate Ontario this year, everyone should be as snug as a bug in a rug. The entirety of the grant is being used towards a brand new, insulated interlocking floor for the arena. The new floor snaps together in half the time it took to install the old plywood flooring, which not only held the cold but required a small army of strong volunteers many hours to lay out.

Rosemarie O'Brien, general manager of the popular Collingwood Elvis Festival. says the 'EventDeck' flooring will make a huge difference when it comes to efficiency and the comfort of literally tens of thousands of fans who attend the event each year.

"The new flooring is very lightweight and won't damage the ice surface at all. Because it is insulated it's going to be a lot warmer for the fans, artists and volunteers," said O'Brien.

"The old plywood flooring was really heavy -- we needed a lot of male volunteers who took about six hours to lay it down. The event-deck flooring will only take about three hours and the best part is the company will come and install it the first year which is a real bonus for us. After they fit it properly the first time and the number all the pieces it will be easy for us to put together in years to come."

The Elvis Festival has turned out to be a very positive thing for the Eddie Bush Arena. Not only will the town be able to utilize the new flooring to host concerts or other public events if it so chooses, but other renovations are being considered that will greatly enhance the facility. O'Brien says festival organizers hope to put new bleachers in the arena next year through Celebrate Ontario grant funding.

"Almost every year someone that has attended a show in the arena has come and complained about broken seats -so replacing them will create a more comfortable venue for the fans and everyone else that uses Eddie Bush," said O'Brien.

Another enhancement for the Elvis Festival and the Town of Collingwood this year was the installation of permanent power upgrades to the Ste. Marie parking lot.

This not only benefits the festival but all future users of the site. For the festival is has alleviated the need for costly annual generator rentals -- a bonus this year considering the main beer garden venue is being relocated from the Pine Street parking lot to the St. Marie Street location. O'Brien says the latter venue will be bigger and easier for police to control.

"Installation of permanent power to the St. Marie venue lot provides a betterment of town services which can be used for other things besides the Elvis Festival," said O'Brien.

"For us, it means huge savings in that we will no longer have to rent generators which have cost about $15,000 every year in the past. In just two years most of the $35,000 it cost for the hydro upgrades will be recovered."

The Sirius Satellite Radio Collingwood Elvis Festival 2008 takes place from Thursday July 24 to Sunday July 27 this year. For information on tickets, schedules and events visit the official web site: www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com



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