Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice have each promised $25 million towards a Calgary-based music facility dubbed the National Music Centre. The funding, announced Tuesday (October 12), will not come through until the province is in the black, likely at the beginning of the 2013 fiscal year.
The state-of-the-art facility will be included in Calgary's East Village, which is currently being redeveloped. The projected cost for the 110,000-square-foot building falls between $120 and $130 million. On top of the $50 million promised this week, the city of Calgary pledged $25 million to the project earlier this year.
The National Music Centre will include the full collection currently housed at Cantos, including the impressive Cantos Collection of Keyboard Instruments and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as a recording studio, a radio broadcasting space, a live venue and more. The Centre will also offer community outreach programs and other educational ventures.
In an interview with the Calgary Sun, National Music Centre CEO Andrew Mosker said, "We are so grateful for their support of the National Music Centre project and to all Canadian 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."
Alberta Culture Minister Dave Blackett spoke highly of the initiative, saying, "It's an icon for the country and for a place that not a lot of people perceive to have a lot of culture, we certainly put our money where our mouth is."
The National Music Centre is expected to open in late 2012 or early 2013. More information about the centre is available in this downloadable PDF. A short presentation about the project's unique architecture, which is depicted in the artist drawing above, is available below.
The state-of-the-art facility will be included in Calgary's East Village, which is currently being redeveloped. The projected cost for the 110,000-square-foot building falls between $120 and $130 million. On top of the $50 million promised this week, the city of Calgary pledged $25 million to the project earlier this year.
The National Music Centre will include the full collection currently housed at Cantos, including the impressive Cantos Collection of Keyboard Instruments and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as a recording studio, a radio broadcasting space, a live venue and more. The Centre will also offer community outreach programs and other educational ventures.
In an interview with the Calgary Sun, National Music Centre CEO Andrew Mosker said, "We are so grateful for their support of the National Music Centre project and to all Canadian 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."
Alberta Culture Minister Dave Blackett spoke highly of the initiative, saying, "It's an icon for the country and for a place that not a lot of people perceive to have a lot of culture, we certainly put our money where our mouth is."
The National Music Centre is expected to open in late 2012 or early 2013. More information about the centre is available in this downloadable PDF. A short presentation about the project's unique architecture, which is depicted in the artist drawing above, is available below.
