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Many of the timbers used in the 1950 clubhouse came from a building the Hilltops helped to demolish, thanks to an offer from contractor and Hilltops director Art Peberdy, who also headed up the building committee.

As those timbers merged, the team served notice that it was around for the long haul. They called the place “home” for the next 67 years, and used it as a springboard for 20 national championships, including seven of the last eight. But Richardson said he’s not sad to see it go.

“Not really,” he said, while standing in the brand-new clubhouse. “This is beautiful, and it’s needed.”

Photo by Michelle Berg / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

The new clubhouse is 10,000 square feet, up from 6,000 (over a few different levels) at the old building, and the space is designed for efficiency.

There’s film rooms for both offence and defence, a directors room, an expanded trainers room, a weight room, a more practical coaches room with a touch of nostalgia (head coach Tom Sargeant insisted that his battered desk make the move from the old to the new clubhouse), and a bigger locker room. When the old clubhouse is completely gone, they’ll put a patio there.

Current Hilltops receiver Jason Price, asked to name one thing he won’t miss from the old clubhouse, responded quickly.

“The lack of showers that worked,” he said. “There’s about 12 showers in there, and about six that worked really well. Things got a little interesting after games. It was a lot of sharing showers. Cold water, too — we ran out of hot water really fast in that locker room.”