The Manitoba Entertainment Complex (MEC) was an organization of business interests in the city of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

, Canada. The group was created in August 1994, and sought to ensure the construction of a 16,000-seat multipurpose entertainment and sports complex in the city's downtown area to replace the aging

Winnipeg Arena Winnipeg Arena was an indoor arena located in the Polo Park district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The arena was the city's premier ice hockey venue from 1955 to 2004 and is best remembered as the home of the first Winnipeg Jets franchise, wh ...

which lacked luxury amenities. The MEC's primary intent was to keep the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

team in the city. They were ultimately unsuccessful, and the franchise moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

in 1996. The primary spokesperson for MEC was

John Loewen John Loewen (; born December 21, 1949) is a businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1999 to 2005 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, and campaigned for the House of ...

. Other members included

Leonard Asper Leonard Asper (born May 31, 1964) is a Canadian businessperson, entrepreneur and lawyer. He is a graduate of Brandeis University and the University of Toronto Law School, and is a member of the Ontario Bar Association and The Law Society of Uppe ...

and

Stuart Murray Stuart Murray (born November 24, 1954) is a former politician from Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba and leader of the opposition in the Manitoba legislature from 2000 to 2006. From 2006 un ...

."The private-sector starting lineup is...", ''Winnipeg Free Press'', 27 August 1994.

References

Sport in Winnipeg 1994 establishments in Manitoba {{Manitoba-stub