The only thing Brit McKinna knows for certain, is he doesn’t know anything for certain.
McKinna is the man behind food and beverage management for the City of Lethbridge. He organizes the concessions at city arenas — including the Enmax Centre and its soon-to-be-open restaurant.
The building formerly — and proudly — known as the Canada Games Sportsplex has had more work done than Joan Rivers lately, and the results are as hotly debated as the comedienne’s facial reconfiguration. One thing is for certain, and that is that the restaurant will open on March 2, when the Professional Bullriders Association comes to town.
“I have a lot of experience opening, running and managing in the food service industry and the only thing I know is that I don’t know everything,” smiled McKinna as he stood in the middle of what will soon be a full service restaurant and bar at the north end of the building.
The area will not only provide Lethbridge Hurricanes fans an opportunity to drown their sorrows regarding the team’s recent plight at a fully licensed bar, but allow them to sit down for a meal and watch the live-feed action on big-screen TVs in the restaurant.
McKinna said the area will seat approximately 225 people and is open for facility bookings. It will also be open for concerts and other special events at the Enmax Centre, including the Elton John concert April 24.
“We have a dry run the powwow weekend, we’re only providing concessions for that event, so we’ll have our staff going through the motions up here,” he said. “That will hopefully give us an idea of where we’re at heading into the first day of the PBR, when we have to provide a prime rib dinner for that.”
The unpredictable nature of running a restaurant is McKinna’s focus, as he said anticipating what might go wrong is half the battle. Having a plan for if or when something happens is the other half.
During his interview Tuesday, a pigeon fell from the Enmax Centre’s rafters and hit the concrete floor with a thud. Laughing, McKinna said that is just one of the things he’s preparing for.
“There you go, that’s something you don’t have to deal with in a restaurant, but in an arena, where there has been major construction for three years, you have to be aware of those issues.”
Other things have already been tested, like the wireless point-of-sale system which had been in use in the luxury suites before this hockey season. McKinna said with the distance needed to travel from the middle of the restaurant to the other, a wireless system made sense, and they already had the technology from when the suites were using it.
But, there are other problems lurking. When the new concessions and luxury suites opened in October, the elevators weren’t approved for use, and the POS system crashed.
“I’ll never be happy, not completely. But if we can get through our opening weekend and sort some things out after that, I know this will be a success.”
The area McKinna has to use will see a bar on the west side and the restaurant on the east. A row of season ticket seats lined up facing the ice surface will give the Hurricanes something to sell, and the windows which open facing north could make the Enmax a nice facility for parties or weddings.
“We are very well suited to facility bookings. We’ve got the view, the space and because of the kitchen facilities, we can easily handle a full house,” said McKinna, who said his secret weapon is an ice surface which can seat 1,400 and elevators which can bring piping hot food down to them.
“There are a lot of possibilities, but to tell you the truth, we’re really focused on giving people a good experience to take advantage of the people who have been waiting for this.”
The carpeting and flooring isn’t in yet, but McKinna said the physical area will be ready on time — as far he knows.
“You don’t want to be a firefighter, you want to have a plan in place and anticipate,” he said.
“Because you’re hoping for the best, but you’re planning for the worst.”