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National Mountain Centre dream closer

Canmore’s plans for $35 million facility get boost

By Lynn Martel

Backers behind the push for a National Mountain Centre in Canmore are looking over the results of a $250,000 feasibility study with an eye toward moving to the next phase — construction of a $35 million building that promises to be a national icon.

Launched in September 2005 and conducted by independent parties Western Management Consultants, Grant Thornton LLP and Econometrics Research, the feasibility assessment is now in its final stages.

And after examining key components, including an economic impact study and architectural design study, the findings all point toward a successful, self supporting venture, said Doug Leonard, a member of the volunteer board that is moving the project along.

“The conclusions that have been drawn from all the different components show that the prospect of the NMC is strong. The outcomes have been positive,” Leonard said.

Supported through funds from the Western Economic Development Fund, Alberta’s Minister of Economic Development and Parks Canada, and including $41,000 from private donors, the highlight of the assessment came in the form of the architectural design study.

“That’s the one that excited all of us the most, because it’s a manifestation of the principles and values and ideas of the Mountain Centre, and it allowed us to integrate all of those concepts into a functional program,” Leonard said.

After inviting six architectural firms from across the country to submit designs, the board decided upon the ideas of Saucier et Perrotte, a Montreal firm with more than 40 national and international awards.

“We had very serious response,” said board member Bob Sandford. “Choosing was very difficult.”

Aiming to be the biggest and most comprehensive facility of its type in the world, the architectural plans feature outdoor decks providing views of the surrounding mountains, an indoor climbing wall built to international competition standards — none of which currently exists in Canada — permanent and temporary museum exhibits, two state-of-the-art multimedia presentation theatres, art galleries, a restaurant overlooking the mountains and retail shops specializing in mountain related gear and clothing.

“There’s no angle you can view in the building where it does not reflect the surrounding horizon and landscape,” Sandford said.

Everyone involved in the process understood the magnitude of the NMC concept, added board member Geoff Powter, and the idea that it should represent the evolving and prosperous Canadian west.

“People understood this is potentially a signature building,” Powter said. “We can have an icon of the same magnitude here. Most buildings in this valley block the mountains. If there can be a building that accentuates them in any kind of way, it will offer a magnified way to see the mountains.”

The Centre would include an extensive archive and electronic library featuring historical, traditional, cultural and scientific mountain-related knowledge, which would be available online. It would also feature a 3,500-square-foot visitors’ centre where information on weather, avalanche conditions, brochures and maps could be accessed, and connection made with tour operators, Travel Alberta and Parks Canada.

A main focus of the NMC would be to collaborate with local organizations and businesses already in existence, Sandford said.

“Our vision is to include and accommodate the interests of all existing organizations and institutions involved in mountain culture and activities, and as our plans develop further we will be communicating with the widest possible range of interests to ensure that our centre accomplishes this goal,” Sandford said.

The NMC board is continuing discussions with the province and the Town of Canmore in the hopes of building the Centre on the Palliser lands near the Four Points Sheraton Hotel — a location which, due to its high visibility from the highway, the board feels could benefit all stakeholders by positioning the NMC as an essential stop for visitors entering the mountains.

In addition to Sandford, Leonard (former Whyte Museum director), and Powter (author and Canadian Alpine Journal editor), the NMC’s board includes Peter Fuhrmann, former Alpine Club of Canada president and Parks Canada alpine specialist; Paul Wanklyn, president and CEO of Temple Energy; George Gosbee, Tristone Capital president; Robert Janes, former president and CEO of Calgary’s Glenbow Museum; and Henry Vaux, University of California professor emeritus.

Bigger than just a building however, the NMC is poised to raise the profile of the entire region, the board asserts, serving as a hub for mountain related organizations such as the Alpine Club of Canada, the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and the Canadian Avalanche Association.

Thus far, the feasibility study’s results point in a positive direction in all of these areas, concluding that construction, operation and incremental tourism impacts associated with the Centre will significantly enhance the cultural, educational, entertainment, tourism and recreational base of Canmore, and would complement tourist sectors of the entire region by enticing large numbers of new tourists to visit and to stay longer.

“So far, the findings of the feasibility study demonstrate the National Mountain Centre on the ground could pay for itself,” Leonard said. “That’s a big part of what we were about initially — that a non-profit could be sustainable. We do not want to do this if it can’t be financially sustaining.”

The next step, Leonard said, is for the board to decide to become actively engaged in a fundraising strategy and ensuing fundraising campaign to build the centre.

Now two years into the planning process — which could see the doors opening by mid-2010 — everything is moving along right on track, Powter said.

“Often when people hear of this for the first time, they think it will happen tomorrow, but that’s not possible,” Powter said. “This is how long these things take. We’re totally on stream covering all the bases to make this exactly what it can be. Everything is moving along exactly as planned.”

Presentations on the NMC in Fernie, Golden, Revelstoke and Jasper have all met with encouragement, they added.

“With very few exceptions, every community and group we’ve talked to have expressed nothing but support,” Leonard said. “No one has said this is a crazy idea, no one has said no one will come to such a place. But we also have to examine the risks, the board has to examine the outcomes. Does the project have the legs to move to the next phase?”

Among those risks, Leonard said, are the costs associated with construction once the building phase is underway.

“One of the scary things about construction is that it so easily blossoms out of control,” Leonard said. “That’s got to be one of the risks.”

While the centre — and the architectural plans — have been created conceptually within the overall vision, the building can be scaled back if necessary, he added. At the same time, the board is considering other valuable purposes, including creating dorm-style housing to help alleviate Canmore’s accommodation shortages.

The Duca degli Abruzzi National Mountain Museum in Torino, Italy, currently the world’s most comprehensive mountain centre, serves as a meeting place for a wide range of mountain lovers, and a similar centre could do the same for Canmore, Sandford said.

“We want to do it so well it will become a world example,” Sandford said. “We’ve looked around the world at what is, and what might be here.”