Red Deer Memorial Centre turning back the clock to celebrate 75th anniversary

So let’s jump in the DeLorean and take a trip through the decades.

A-20 Royal Canadian Army Service Corps training camp, looking west, at Red Deer. White building in centre is Y.M.C.A. building (used after the War as Sacred Heart School). Memorial Building visible to the right side (darker). Service Corps members train on the fields in front of what would today be Camille J. Lerouge School property. (Image Credit: The City of Red Deer Archives/P97)

The year is 1940, and World War II had only begun raging a year prior. Red Deer, with a population of around 2,500, played a key role.

Close to 2,000 soldiers arrived in the city, nearly doubling the population. And where they spent much of their time was at the drill hall that would later become the Memorial Centre.

“Even the school behind the Memorial Centre, which used to be called River Glen School, and then over to the east at Lindsay Thurber… there are still bits and pieces that were built in 1940,” says Wanda Bornn, treasurer with the Central Alberta Theatre Society, which is the organization that operates the Memorial Centre through the City of Red Deer.

Barracks, officer housing, and training facilities surrounded the area where the Memorial Centre stands today, while the Cormack Armoury now operates to the west. There were roughly 30 buildings erected in all, over the span of 13 months.

In 1945, the war mercifully ended, and the drill needn’t be one any longer.

(Image Credit: The City of Red Deer Archives/K15661_5)

Back to the future, but not too far, as we time jump to 1950.

“A group of people from the city thought, well, it’s now an empty building — and things were well-built back then — so they turned this drill hall into a performing arts centre,” Bornn explains.

“On Sept. 5, 1951, they held a big opening dinner ceremony.”

The dinner menu that night will serve as the basis for what people can expect to dine on come Nov. 14. An image of the original menu is below.

(Image Credit: The City of Red Deer Archives)

The resplendent opening marked the start of an era of world-class performances.

That includes Johnny Cash himself, who walked the Memorial Centre line on March 7, 1968, featuring Carl Perkins and the Statler Brothers.

The list also includes Tammy Wynette and George Jones, Barenaked Ladies, Roy Orbison, Bo Diddley, Jann Arden, Corb Lund, Johnny Reid, Paul Brandt, Terri Clark, and even Bryan Adams, to name a few.

“With Johnny Cash, there’s very little written documentation about it. But he performed here,” insists Bornn, who has heard multiple anecdotal retellings from people who were there.

Gone, but not forgotten

In name, the drill hall is gone, and tragically, many members of the Canadian military also never returned.

That’s why there’s a cenotaph-esque memorial inside the Memorial Centre’s front entrance, plus two monuments outside, one each commemorating the Korean War and peacekeepers.

If you walk inside the theatre, close your eyes, and listen to someone recall the building’s rich history, you can just picture soldiers milling about darn near 100 years ago, getting in line, practicing military maneuvers and preparing for God knows what on the battlefield.

“Just about every person I know that’s been here after and before me has left it better than when they found it, and that’s as much as you can hope for sometimes,” says Darrel Dixon, the Memorial Centre’s technical manager, about people respecting the building’s sacredness.

“Both my grandfathers were military, my father was military, as were my brother and uncle, so yeah, it’s definitely an interesting part of working here.”

Bornn concurs that remembering what came before the era of song and dance at the facility is integral to its present and future.

Turn up the lights

Dixon, meanwhile, has been plying his craft at the Memorial Centre for 16 years, and is extremely excited about the coming lighting upgrades.

Darrel Dixon, technical manager at the Memorial Centre. (Image Credit: rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“We’re way behind on things like that. Our current stuff, it’s hard to even service anymore because you can’t get parts for it. The new lights will speed up time for setup and tear down, which helps promoters,” he explains.

“The more you can help a promoter with costs, the more likely they are to return and bring more shows here. It also makes shows more exciting for patrons.”

The sound system he operates was enhanced a few years back, matching what’s used in venues such as Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House.

It is anticipated that the lighting project will be funded by a combination of municipal (to be approved), federal and provincial dollars, as well as some of what’s raised from the 75th anniversary gala.

“The theme for our anniversary is 75 Years of Legends, so our moving-forward statement from here is, ‘Continue the Legend,'” Bornn says, noting too that the Memorial Centre recently refreshed its logo.

“We want to keep doing what we’ve done, but make it bigger and better, bring it up to the times, and continue to offer a location for the people of the city and area [to enjoy shows].”

Wanda Bornn, treasurer with the Central Alberta Theatre Society. (Image Credit: rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

What Bornn also emphasized was that they feel the Memorial Centre can be the performing arts centre many Red Deerians have long clamoured for.

“It’s extremely important because [a few years ago] the City did a survey on the importance of different things, including if we were to have a brand new performing arts centre; everybody agrees that is something that should happen,” she said.

“The city needs one, 100 per cent. We have something here where we can present a lot of different things — dance, comedy, music. There aren’t a lot of places you can go with 700 seats in Central Alberta to enjoy a show.”

“What we’ve said in our business plan is ‘We are that.'”

Tickets for the Nov. 14 event are available here.

by Josh Hall

Red Deer Memorial Centre turning back the clock to celebrate 75th anniversary

Gone, but not forgotten

Turn up the lights

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