The Old Fire Hall will almost certainly be getting a facelift this spring, as the municipality hands the building over to Parks Canada.
Pam Clark, Parks Canada’s visitor experience manager, said she is very excited, because right now is a “very opportunistic” time for the building to change hands.
Parks has a vision, she explained, to turn the heritage property into a presentation space, out of which it will run a slew of interpretive programs.
“We’re looking at having it compliment the info services that we have here, but expand beyond that,” she said.
Right now, most of the interpretive programs Parks runs are at Whistlers Campground, but it’s mostly just campers that see those, as people in town don’t really make trips out just for that purpose.
By plunking those programs right in the middle of town, at the Old Fire Hall, Clark said Parks hopes to broaden the audience.
“It’s in the heart of the town, and it’s such an attraction for people that we think people will get pulled in to some of the great programming,” she said.
The two large bays that used to house fire equipment, she explained, would be a perfect presentation space that could expand outdoors in the summer, but close up and still be viable in the winter.
But Parks’ vision extends beyond simply bringing some of its programs to town. Clark explained Parks also hopes to run interactive workshops, like aboriginal drumming, beading and drum making. She also said there would be room for things like wall-mounted exhibits.
With a permanent stage and sound system installed, Parks will be free to bring in theatre groups, or, possibly even invest in its own, Clark said.
It will be easier for other people who want to use the space as well, because there will be much less setup.
“I’d like to see it come alive,” she said.
Jasper’s Chief Administrative Officer Peter Waterworth explained that right now the building is being used as storage, while the municipality waits for renovations to the library and cultural centre to finish up.
Once construction is completed, he said, there will be “no municipal purpose for [the hall] anymore,” and if all goes according to plan, the municipality will hand over the keys April 1.
Built in 1936, the hall housed the Jasper Fire Brigade for almost 70 years, until the Emergency Services Building went up in 2002.
Never really big enough to properly house the brigade, a rear extension was added in 1946, as well as an extra bay in 1972.
In 1988 it was formally recognized as a federal heritage building, and when the Specialized Municipality of Jasper officially incorporated in 2001, it got the building as part of the package.
No longer housing the fire brigade, it was used as a space for fundraisers and presentations. For a brief stint, the Jasper Artists Guild even found a home there, but they moved in the fall of 2012.
The building received a new cedar shingle roof last summer, with the help of a provincial grant, and although that was a good start on the repairs to the old building, Clark said more work will still have to be done for Parks to turn the building into the presentation space it is hoping for.
Right now, Parks is working with a pair of architects to figure out exactly what will be done for the building to meet code.
Clark stressed, however, that it is important to Parks that renovations aren’t too extensive.
“We want to keep it pretty much consistent with its heritage,” she said.
Parks hopes to run a few pilot programs in the new space this summer, gradually adding to the lineup through the next year or so as they work things out.
By 2016, she said, the new space should be up and running, and all renovations should be finished.
Trevor Nichols
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