In my books they have to keep the look and feeling of the new King Eddy as much as the old King Eddy as possible. It's a rich part of calgary's history. Some great bands came rolling through here along the infamous midwest circuit. I was in Chicago last March and we stopped into the House of Blues and ended up sitting down with Willy "the touch" Hays who was the drummer in the house band. Dude has stories and stories about playing at the Kind Eddy.
October 12, 2010
Alberta supports creation of National Music Centre in Calgary
Edmonton... The dream of a music and cultural centre in Calgary’s east village took another step toward reality with the announcement by Premier Ed Stelmach that the Government of Alberta will support development and construction of the National Music Centre.
“We are proud to build on Cantos Music Foundation’s efforts with a funding commitment of up to $25 million,” said Premier Stelmach. “The Foundation should be commended on their contributions to Alberta’s music and cultural life through their public and artistic development programs.”
The new facility, including rejuvenating the old King Edward Hotel, will allow Cantos Music Foundation to expand its programming and make its musical artifact collection and professional development initiatives more accessible to all Albertans. The National Music Centre will support all levels of artists, from children to established professionals, and offer public programming to support audience development and access to the arts as outlined in Alberta’s cultural policy, The Spirit of Alberta. “The Government of Canada is focussed on investing in and improving infrastructure that will create jobs and stimulate local economies,” said Honourable Jim Prentice, Environment Minister and Regional Minister for Southern Alberta. “This cultural infrastructure project will greatly contribute to the economic prosperity of Calgary and promote arts and culture, while preserving Canada’s music legacy for generations to come.”
“Cantos’ partnership with arts groups throughout the province sets an example for all organizations as to what can be accomplished by working together,” said Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit.
This funding will be provided to the Cantos Music Foundation within a three year time period and will flow following elimination of provincial budget deficits.
“I would like to thank Premier Stelmach and Minister Blackett for their leadership and support of the National Music Centre vision, a place where Canada’s national music story will thrive through historic living music collections and innovative programs for students, musicians, seniors, researchers and tourists,” said Andrew Mosker, President and CEO of Cantos Music Foundation and the National Music Centre.
The City of Calgary aready set aside $25 million in January for the project, and as the article alludes to, the Federal Government will be giving $25 million (I'm assuming) as well.
Calgary, AB — Cantos Music Foundation and the National Music Centre project are thrilled to announce equal commitments of $25 million each from the Province of Alberta and the Government of Canada’s Infrastructure department toward the building of Canada’s National Music Centre (NMC) in Calgary.
Combined with the City of Calgary’s leading $25-million commitment earlier this year, the National Music Centre project is now officially on its way to realization.
“This is a monumental leap forward in bringing our vision of a national destination to reality,” said NMC President and CEO Andrew Mosker. “We are so grateful to the municipal, provincial and federal governments for their support of this project and to Canadians for making an investment in a place that will tell our music story and connect Canadians to each other and to our heritage through the power of music.”
Minister of Environment and Minister Responsible for Southern Alberta Jim Prentice, Premiere Ed Stelmach, Alberta Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett, and Mayor Dave Bronconnier joined Mosker today for the announcement at Cantos Music Foundation.
“Our Government is focused on investing in and improving infrastructure that will create jobs and stimulate local economies,” said Minister Prentice. “This cultural infrastructure project will greatly contribute to the economic prosperity of Calgary and promote arts and culture, while preserving Canada’s music legacy for generations to come.”
“We are proud to build on Cantos Music Foundation’s efforts with a funding commitment of up to $25 million,” said Premier Stelmach. “They are to be commended on their contributions to Alberta’s music and cultural life through their public and artistic development programs.”
“We’re delighted to see both the federal and provincial governments joining with the City and Cantos to see this project become a reality,” said Mayor Bronconnier. “It’s an important step forward for our East Village Redevelopment plan, and for Calgary’s arts community.”
The $120 – $130 million, 110,000 sq.ft. National Music Centre will give Canadians a place that amplifies the love, the sharing and the understanding of music through collections and exhibitions, programs, research and collaborations across the country. Located at the site of the historic King Edward Hotel, the project will be a catalyzing force in the revitalization of Calgary’s East Village and provide an iconic piece of cultural infrastructure to Calgary, to Alberta and for all Canadians.
-30-
Media Inquiries
Camie Leard, Manager
Marketing, Communications and Public Relations
Cantos Music Foundation/National Music Centre Project
Direct Line: (403) 543-5122
Cell: (403) 874-7694 leardc@cantos.ca
I'd rather see 130-million tax dollars on a facility that will house and foster generations of talent than 20-million on a gay looking bridge. For a city starved for 'culture', as the old argument goes, this is the best news ever.
I'd rather see 130-million tax dollars on a facility that will house and foster generations of talent than 20-million on a gay looking bridge. For a city starved for 'culture', as the old argument goes, this is the best news ever.
Meh. I'd rather have more homosexual bridges than have an expensive rusty trombone warehouse.
Bazinga
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Don't like the King Eddy. Just tear it down already. It might of housed talent in the past but it was destroyed by prostitution and drugs etc. If the King Eddy is going to be preserved make sure to put some model police cars in front of it to get it's full past. The city already has preserved heritage buildings. The King Eddy isn't one of them.
Don't like the King Eddy. Just tear it down already. It might of housed talent in the past but it was destroyed by prostitution and drugs etc. If the King Eddy is going to be preserved make sure to put some model police cars in front of it to get it's full past. The city already has preserved heritage buildings. The King Eddy isn't one of them.
Don't like the King Eddy. Just tear it down already. It might of housed talent in the past but it was destroyed by prostitution and drugs etc. If the King Eddy is going to be preserved make sure to put some model police cars in front of it to get it's full past. The city already has preserved heritage buildings. The King Eddy isn't one of them.
WF? Is that some old blues song or did you stroke out whilst typing?
Not my favorite choice of finalists, but overall I'm a big fan of this project and it's exciting to see some progress being made there.
Between this and the Bosa Development deal last week, these are 2 quite significant steps for the East Village and it's been a while since we've seen that.
The final design was revealed last night at an event at The Uptown. About 200 people there from all walks of life, after hearing the architect talk about the project I have come around to this design and am very excited to see it come to fruition.
A great turnout, I'd say probably about 150-200 people. Musicians, friends of the King Eddy, urbanists, all walks of life easily represented.
When the Allied Works proposal was first selected my response was "meh", however after the presentation last night the design is really starting to grow on me.
Here are the "hard numbers", the cost to build it $110.5M, to date they have $81M in funding. So almost 75% funded at this point, I think with some corporate sponsors they can easily reach their goal.
I think the design is incredible. The main entrance opens into a grand lobby, where one can look up and see the main performance hall above and to the east, this is due to the walls of this hall being able to open and close, depending on what is required. Like almost every part of the building this is being done to let the sound of music and instruments be heard throughout the building.
They are working with acoustic engineers and are also hoping that once the building is open the musicians will find spaces to create their music in.
The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio will be fully restored and on the side with the King Eddy, it will be available for recording sessions, as will another room that will have other recording equipment from the Cantos collection.
The sky bridge will have an open air space on the top level, and plenty of room in the inside section to allow for yet more performance space.
There will probably be about 10-12 "artists in residence" units, designed for them to be able to live on site.
The architect suggested that before the renovated King Eddy club is opened up they should have a "smokers night" and encourage everyone to spill lots of beer and vomit in the hallways, so that it has a little of the original flavour of the place!
With the roof of the Eddy being open now, there will be a rooftop patio on there as well.
There will also be busking stations (dumb city bylaw) all along the street front of the facility.
During the Q&A one person asked about the dirty word "parking". As of right now there will only be 48 underground parking stalls in the project, mainly due to the cost. But they did indicate there will be plenty of parking with the city building the 1500 stall parkade east of District Energy, plus the fairly close access of the City Hall LRT station. I would also assume in the future the SELRT will have a stop very close (9-10th Ave & 5th St?).
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but it was very exciting and holds a lot of promise for not just the East Village but the entire city.
Now my only concern is that at some point this design get "Bow'd" and we end up losing some of the amazing features that will make it truly incredible (a la the Bow's atrium levels). With the funding so close to the final number I really really hope I'm wrong.
Last edited by Bigtime; 06-23-2011 at 09:33 AM.
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Cost to build is estimated at $110.5M, they have $75M from the 3 levels of government, and have raised another $6M privately already.
These renderings are as close to the final version as we'll get before construction commences, it is modified quite a bit from the original proposal that Allied put together that won the competition.
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Cost to build is estimated at $110.5M, they have $75M from the 3 levels of government, and have raised another $6M privately already.
These renderings are as close to the final version as we'll get before construction commences, it is modified quite a bit from the original proposal that Allied put together that won the competition.
Thankfully.
I am glad that the are keeping the taller part of the King Eddy too.
On another note, I thought that the city would no longer allow 'stuff' like TD Square over a roadway that isn't just a plus 15 walkway ...
I am glad that the are keeping the taller part of the King Eddy too.
On another note, I thought that the city would no longer allow 'stuff' like TD Square over a roadway that isn't just a plus 15 walkway ...
That's what I thought too. There were possible litigation issues with doing so, as far as I understood it.
I was heavily involved in that competition two years ago with a shortlisted team; I gotta say though, that design from Allied Works has grown on me. I rather like it now.
