On Nov. 8, 1973, Langley Township opened a new arena in Brookswood. It cost $1,750,000 and was called the Langley Civic Centre, the Langley Advance Times reported in 2016. Plenty of locals had another name for it, though: the "Preston Palace."

The mayor who sold Chevrolets

George Preston grew up in Victoria. He and his wife Iris married in 1957 and later took over a General Motors dealership in Langley, which became Preston Chevrolet Oldsmobile Cadillac. George ran it for 40 years, his obituary says.

He won the race for Township mayor in the fall of 1971. Brookswood was growing and wanted an ice rink, and a committee was already working on it. George's council finished that job, former mayor Kurt Alberts wrote, and the building was done in 1973.

A name on the building

In 2002 the Township gave George the Freedom of the Municipality. A few years later it renamed the Civic Centre after him. "George and Iris's involvement and influence are everywhere," Alberts said at the naming ceremony.

George died in January 2006. Iris, named Langley's Senior of the Year in 2005, died in 2012.

Junior hockey in the old barn

The rink was home to a run of junior A teams. The BCHL's Langley Lords played here, and so did the Thunder and the Hornets, the Rivermen wrote in 2014. The Langley Chiefs were the last junior A team there. They left for the Langley Events Centre in 2009.

The Lodge

Then in 2016 the Vancouver Giants moved into the Events Centre, and the Langley Rivermen came here. The Township reclad the "old barn" to look like a lodge, a nod to Langley's pioneers and explorers. Inside, it added loge seats and better lighting, plus a new video display.

The Rivermen still play their BCHL home games at George Preston this season.

Canada's best junior curlers

The Langley Curling Centre runs out of the building too. In January 2020 it hosted the New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships, with games on five sheets in George Preston and three more in the curling centre, the Township said.

Steaks and a pub

The Township lists The Lodge Steakhouse and The Horse & Ryder Pub inside, plus an outdoor patio for up to 100. One fan watching hockey here called the pub "really great." Rooms B and C each hold up to 133 people if you're planning a party.

Skate park and BMX out back

Brookswood Skateboard Park is on the same site. The Langley BMX track sits under the power lines on the north side of the arena, and you enter off 206 Street at the white gate. One visitor summed up the whole place as "very clean and well kept."

Check the schedule first

Arena times run on bookings and can differ from building hours, the Township notes. Drop in skating and stick and puck times are posted on tol.ca. Questions? Call the centre at 604-530-1323.

Sources: Langley Advance Times (Troy Landreville, July 2, 2016; George Preston obituary, Jan. 7, 2006; Frank Bucholtz, Apr. 26, 2012), kurtalberts.com (George Preston Recreation Centre), Langley Rivermen (Mar. 12, 2014 and July 5, 2016), Township of Langley (centre page, Oct. 2026; Jan. 13, 2020 news), USA BMX (Langley BMX), Hey Langley (Oct. 21, 2026), Google reviews (via live post).