Monument honouring CN Yardmen unveiled at QSWC

The City of Belleville officially unveiled the new CN Yardmen Memorial Project Monument outside the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre on Tuesday.

The project was first introduced as a tribute to the Belleville Yardmen – a group of railroaders who contributed over $3 million towards the construction of the Quinte Sports Centre which opened in 1978.

The facility was named the Yardmen Arena in the 1990s to honour those railroaders and their contributions.

As the facility expanded, it became known as the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre which included the Yardmen Arena.

In 2017, the Ottawa Senators moved their AHL affiliate to the Yardmen, and in 2018 naming rights were sold making it the CAA Arena.

The CN Yardmen Monument was designed to honour the efforts of the Belleville Yardmen, who had a vision to build a facility.

It is located outside the west entrance of the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre.

At the dedication ceremony, Mayor Neil Ellis acknowledged the CN committee and, in particular, committee member Dave Simpson, for their work to bring the monument to life.

“I’d like to thank Dave for his work, his passion, his leadership, his never saying yes, all the time, but no, we got to. get this done right. Your passion and your dedication has been an appreciated today and you got us here.”

With the arena’s name change, Simpson says there was a concern people  would not know about the Yardmen’s contribution.

“Future generations will never know what went on here. So we made a committee of eight people and took a piece of paper and said, what do you think we should do?”

COVID slowed progress on the monument and resulted in price increases.

Simpson says the group got to work again raising more money.

The city and Parrott Foundation were major sponsors.

Several other sponsors chipped in including CN and the Belleville Senators.

A plaque acknowledging all sponsors will be erected at the site soon.

Mayor Ellis called the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre a vital hub not only for the local community but also for hockey and winter recreation clubs throughout the province and beyond.

He says it may not have become a reality if it were not for the contributions of the Belleville Yardmen.