Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
Friday night set the stage for a new generation of outdoor entertainment in Jasper.
CN Place, part of Commemoration Park, is now home to an $800,000 covered stage that has been built to be a community asset for years to come.
The project was facilitated by Tourism Jasper, with funding partners including CN Rail, other private sector donors and the Province of Alberta.
James Jackson, president of Tourism Jasper, said: “CN in their 100th anniversary have contributed to an asset that will hopefully stand for 100 years.
“It is a really great story of the private sector and tourism and the municipality coming together.”
The stage was officially opened on Friday night with a free event for the community with speeches of thanks and live music from the Jim Cuddy Band and Maddie Storvold.
Doug Goss, chairman of the board of directors for Tourism Jasper, said: “Five years ago I had a vision to create a centre stage. What Jasper always needed was a centre stage, somewhere to put on festivals and concerts year-round.
“We came up with this idea and fast forward five years, I couldn’t be more proud of what has been built here.
“CN has been such a big part of this community and they wanted to do the right thing and they have done just that.”
Sean Finn, executive vice-president at CN, also spoke at the event. He said CN is very proud to be part of the Jasper community and that the town is “the centre of the universe” for CN.
“Jasper makes our success and so does Alberta,” said Finn.
“We have a long tradition here and it has been 100 years of great success.
“We are very proud to be part of the community here in Jasper.”
Finn said CN strives to be a good neighbour and help build safer and stronger communities across its network.
“This is why it’s an honour to see the opening of the Jim Vena Stage in Jasper,” he said.
“We hope the citizens and visitors will enjoy it for many years to come."
The stage was named after long-time local Jim Vena, who went from kindergarten in Jasper to serving as executive vice-president and chief of operations for CN Rail until his retirement in 2016.
And Vena, who came out of retirement earlier this year to become chief operating officer at Union Pacific, gave words of thanks at the opening ceremony on Friday.
“Thank you to this town,” he said.
“It means so much to me.”
The Jim Vena Stage is now a community asset and Jackson said once the finishing touches have been completed, he and the municipality will be working on exactly how community members and groups can use it.
He said events like the Folk Festival, Canada Day and Jasper in January could be held at CN Place.
“We have been getting really great feedback,” said Jackson.
“I think this project snuck up on people and they maybe didn’t realise the scope of it, the sheer size of the stage.
“The concert was a really great event and free showcase to everybody - it was a bit of a coming out party for the community.
“We can produce a pretty amazing concert here and everybody had a lot of fun.”
