It’s a question many people are asking — if and when the Owen Sound Coliseum closes, where might buck and doe parties be held in the city?
The Coliseum has long been a popular site for the pre-wedding bashes.
City facilities manager Craig Ruppenthal says while many couples do look at other venues for buck and does, there are still about 25 to 30 each year at the Coliseum.
But Ruppenthal says they sometimes lead to damage and other unwanted outcomes — holes in the walls, broken equipment, even broken bottles on the ice.
Lately the practice has been to completely close off the other parts of the building while buck and does are going on upstairs so that partygoers don’t have access to the rest of the building.
Ruppenthal says that would be significantly more difficult to do at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, with its multiple entrances.
He adds the costs that would be associated with securing and policing a larger area like the Bayshore may not be worthwhile for a couple trying to raise money, which is generally the whole point of the party.
But if the Coliseum is no longer available, the issue of whether or not to allow buck and does at the Bayshore will have to be addressed.
Ruppenthal points out the Bayshore is a community centre in more than just name, and the needs of the community must be taken into account.
