Cal Bruton remembers the packed stands, the flashing cameras and the crowds of people lining standing room only sections.
These were the halcyon days of Herb McEachin, Phil Smyth, and Tad Dufelmeier, when the Canberra Cannons were winning championships inside a heaving AIS Arena.
"You couldn't fit another person in that building with a shoehorn," Bruton said.
That's when Bruton was on the other side, an opposition player during Canberra's golden era in the NBL. He would return as coach before the club folded.
Now he returns to the arena which has been empty for 18 months, at least until now. As he glances around to see cars coming and going, he says "it feels like a basketball game".
Instead, the ageing indoor venue has been transformed into a mass vaccination clinic, where thousands of Canberrans are expected to receive their jabs from Friday.
"It's so important for all Australians, particularly Canberrans, that we do focus on getting everyone vaccinated. For the centre to be used in that light is absolutely fantastic," Bruton said.
"Last time I played there, we had a legends game raising funds for the hospital. I had to put together a team of legends. Herb, Brad Williams, the Barnes brothers, Murray Shields.
"We only had probably 400 or 500 people there, maybe a little bit more. But remembering how it was, particularly in the last years of the Cannons, we were starting to get really good crowds."
This time as thousands prepare to enter the AIS Arena, there will be no championship banner on offer. Instead, something far more pivotal for the future of the city.
