This Sunday, Sept. 21, all local residents and visitors are invited to an open house at the Jasper National Park Information Centre. Stop by between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to celebrate the centre’s 100 anniversary and its important role as the the gathering place for Jasper’s visitors.
Share your stories and hear the stories others have to tell about this historic building and the people who worked there. Check out pictures from Jasper’s past, and have a coffee with Col. Rogers, Jasper’s first superintendent.
Brief presentations about the information centre will be offered at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.; coffee and cake will be available in between.
The Jasper National Park Information Centre’s history began in 1913, when the first park superintendent, Lt. Col. Maynard Rogers, hired architect A.M. Calderon to construct a building fitting of his position, to be used as his home and office.
Rogers insisted on building with local cobblestone and timber instead of traditional peeled logs. This doubled the cost, but in the long term his persistence not only secured the Information Centre as a National Historic Site, it had a lasting impact on architecture in the community.
Serving double-duty as the park administration centre and superintendent’s home, the building was a focal point for visitors and the townsite. In the 1920s, Rogers had a First World War field gun and flagpole placed at the front of the building. By the 1930s, the Information Centre had become an ornamental attraction for visitors, with a boulder-lined driveway and flower beds providing constant bursts of colour. After the Second World War the introduction of hedges further defined the park’s idea of aesthetic beauty. The grounds, although not part of the historic designation, have always been important to visitor’s appreciation of the building.
In 1992 the Information Centre was designated a National Historic Site of Canada for its “...historic and architectural significance because it is constructed in the Rustic Design Tradition and it is associated with tourism development in the National Parks.”
At the celebration on Sunday, Parks Canada will also have information available about upcoming events commemorating Jasper’s place in Canada’s history. Find out more about that at www.canada150.gc.ca.
Parks Canada
Special to the Fitzhugh
