As the summer starts to wind down, Parks Canada staff in Jasper National Park are already planning ahead for next summer with new investments that create memorable experiences for park visitors – particularly in campgrounds and day use-areas. Beginning this week, Jasper National Park is building a brand new amphitheatre in Whistlers Campground. Construction is expected to be completed in November 2016, weather-permitting.
Investments in visitor infrastructure will ensure the quality and reliability of visitor facilities and continue to allow Canadians to connect with nature. The new amphitheatre will be fully operational for the 2017 camping season and ready for Canada’s celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
Building a better experience for campground guests
Parks Canada is the country’s largest tourism provider and we are committed to providing visitors with exceptional and meaningful experiences at our places. Jasper National Park’s interpretation team has been performing interactive programming at the Whistlers Campground amphitheatre for many years, providing campground guests with a fun and welcoming place in between their adventures around the park where they can enjoy entertaining programs about the fascinating features of Canada’s second oldest national park. Although well-loved and heavily used, the old amphitheatre was at the end of its expected life span. It had limited storage space and not enough indoor space for programs to be offered inside on rainy days or in cold weather.
The park’s interpretive team is excited about the opportunities the new amphitheatre will offer for sharing their passion for park stories and to ensure visitors and their families are able to make memories which will help build their connection to nature and history. The new amphitheatre will be almost double the size of the old one and will feature a larger outdoor stage that will be able to handle larger productions as well as more programs using guest presenters and performers.
When poor weather keeps guests close to their tents and RVs, park interpreters will be able to offer programming in a warm, dry indoor space that can hold up to 50 people – great news for guests camping in the spring and fall months. Interpreters, performers, as well as spectators using the wheelchair seating area, will be better protected from the elements thanks to the new over-hanging roof. The longer roof will also mean the video projection screen will have better shade so that evening programs can start earlier. Campground guests with mobility issues will appreciate the new asphalt trail that will take them smoothly from the parking lot to the expanded wheelchair-accessible seating area in front of the stage as well as to the rear entrance of the building to the indoor programming space. When completed, Whistler’s amphitheatre site will offer campground guests spectacular views of Whistlers Mountain and a great place to take in the star-filled skies of Canada’s second largest dark sky reserve.
During the construction, campground guests, park visitors, and local residents are invited to participate in entertaining interpretation programs for all ages at the Jasper Heritage Firehall. Children’s programming will continue to be offered at Whistlers Campground at the Xplorer tent, located beside the playground and shower building. The interpretation program schedule is posted on bulletin boards and information kiosks at all campgrounds and throughout the Jasper townsite. For more information on Parks Canada’s interpretive programs you can also visit pc.gc.ca/jasper-interpretation or drop by the park Visitor Information Centre. The Friends of Jasper National Park also run programs at the Xplorer tent in Whistlers Campground on Mondays and Tuesdays. More information is available at www.friendsofjasper.com.
Jasper National Park’s interpretive staff look forward to introducing park visitors and residents to this great new facility in 2017. Start planning your 2017 camping experience today.
Parks Canada - Special to the Fitzhugh
