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Assiniboine Park:
A Park for all Seasons

Produced for Prairie Public Television ©2003
Written and Produced By George Siamandas

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Page 7

LYRIC STAGE
NAR: Music and entertainment now sound out from the Lyric Stage. Gail Asper's family spearheaded this splendid outdoor stage after a suggestion by Hartley Richardson.

GAIL ASPER, PARTNERS IN THE PARK
One amazing day Hartley Richardson called to speak with my father and me. So Hartley said: I want to come to talk to you about a project I have in mind. Anyway Hartley showed up and unveiled this amazing plan to refurbish the Pavilion and restore it into a beautiful art gallery. And also this other idea that just resonated so perfectly with my father - to build an outdoor Theatre that would perform free shows for the public. And within a few hours my dad had bought into the idea. I have never seen him take to an idea so rapidly and so whole-heartedly.

HARTLEY RICHARDSON
Originally there was a band-shell in the early 1920 and 30s and my grandparents would tell me about coming out in their best bib and tucker on a Sunday with their parasols to watch and listen to the orchestras.

GAIL ASPER
It's music it's dance it's cultural expressions. We have Ukrainian dance, Scottish dancers, lots of jazz, jazz is very popular.

HARTLEY RICHARDSON
It's working out beyond our expectations. We now do over 50 free concerts. This summer we have Ballet in the Park, we have the Winnipeg Symphony, and we have children's entertainers. It has become a special place.

PLANNING THE FUTURE OF ASSINIBOINE PARK
GAIL ASPER
No one comes to live in a city because you've got great paved roads or a really good sewer system. Nobody moves to a city for that reason. The greatest things in this world are cultural cities driven by their architecture, their opera house, their physical and cultural assets. But that takes money and that takes investment. But boy, does it pay off.

The issue with us has been how do you get things done. Who is responsible for getting things done? For forty-two years since I have been living here we have watched how things didn't get done here. How the conservatory deteriorated, how this building the pavilion was empty, nothing happened.

Partners in the Park are really the organization that looks after the three new developments: the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, the Pavilion Gallery and the Lyric. I think its important that communities realise that individuals can make a difference. We shouldn’t just be sitting back all the time and expecting our governments to do things.

We have to be the leaders. We have to start planting the oak trees of tomorrow. The people will say my god could you imagine if someone didn't have the foresight to do Assiniboine Park. We have a legacy from Assiniboine Park. And we have to make sure we do not allow this legacy to be ignored and to be underdeveloped.

So what I would love is for all governments and all municipalities to recognize that if you can't do something legitimately don’t stand in the way. Don't be a roadblock when someone else comes to you with a great idea. Be grateful, facilitate, open the doors and give them the pat on the back. At the very least say, go for it, we are behind you in whatever we can do to support you.

HARTLEY RICHARDSON
It's about what we leave for the generation. And the generations beyond. And this is timeless. This setting is timeless; the Park has been reborn.

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