The Pulse: Aug. 14, 2024

The Edmonton Opera is joining several other cultural organizations across the city in an attempt to grow its audience by offering free shows to youth, and the results suggest it's popular.

Last year, 2,000 people made use of the Youth 4 Free program, which lets people younger than 21 attend opera shows without cost. Joel Ivany, the opera's artistic director, told Taproot the organization started the program to commemorate its 60th season last year. He added that it's one of several ways the opera is growing its audience.

"We have capacity to (do this), so why not invite youth for free?" Ivany said. "And so, if you're under 21, you could come. You could even get a youth under 21 subscription absolutely free. We found some supporters who are interested in supporting that particular measure, so there were no ticket fees or anything."

In the past, the opera has invited young people to dress rehearsals, but with the new program, youth can now attend a show at no cost unless it is completely sold out.

Ivany said the program opens the opera to people who would otherwise not experience it and could convince them to return. "Will that translate into more (interest in opera)? I'm not sure. But if some of them were interested, they can come again this coming season. It's things like that that we won't really know until we give it a chance and try."

The Edmonton Opera isn't the only organization working to add young people to its audience or get them involved in the arts. The Citadel Theatre has created school packages for matinée performances at discounted prices, and an immersive students club with tickets to six shows for $205 or three shows for $102. It also features interactive workshops that teach performance skills like choreography, design, and stage combat.

The Winspear Centre has a performance at Snow Valley called Sizzlin' Summer, running Aug. 22 and 24, where people under 17 can attend for free. Konstantine Kurelias, a communications officer for the Winspear Centre, told Taproot this is something the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has always done to "foster a love of music in children and teenagers." He also said that during the pandemic, ESO started a series called ESO Outdoors, which are free concerts for various communities in the Edmonton area. Upcoming concerts include Edmonton, Devon, Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, and Stony Plain.

Though aimed at a slightly older demographic, ESO has also introduced ESO Encounters, a free membership program for people aged 18 to 35. It's advertised as an opportunity to join a community of music lovers. Benefits are tickets discounted to $25 and networking receptions before certain shows, which also include free food and guest speakers.

A survey of Edmonton arts audiences from March found that 85% of those surveyed view going to a theatre or live music performance as something special rather than something they do every day. Only 7% of respondents to the survey were between the ages of 18 and 24. There was no data collected for people younger than that, which is the demographic that the opera and other arts organizations are trying to attract with programs like Youth 4 Free. Sixteen percent of respondents said there were youth under 18 in their household (though there were no specific questions on their involvement as audience members).

Supporters that make the Edmonton Opera's Youth 4 Free program possible include Thomas and Melanie Nakatsui of Nakatsui Dermasurgery, Robert Rosen of City Lumber and Millwork, and the Totem Foundation, which is based in Cochrane.

Photo: Members of the Cantilon Children's Chorus in the Edmonton Opera's performance of Carmen. (Nanc Price)

• Nearly 80% of people evicted from encampments by police between January and May did not use Edmonton's new navigation centre, Postmedia reports. The centre, located in the Hope Mission shelter, has faced criticism for its limited impact and the discomfort some homeless individuals feel due to its police presence. "We are not seeing this having the effect I think the province hoped it would," said Coun. Erin Rutherford. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing itself, but it can't be the solution." A provincial government spokesperson claimed the centre's success "has been even greater than expected," with more than 2,900 people receiving help since it opened on Jan. 17.
• Construction has begun on the 142 Street Pedestrian/Cyclist Bridge, a key component of Stage Two of the Terwillegar Drive Expansion project aimed at improving active transportation in southwest Edmonton. The bridge will enhance connectivity between the Brookside and Brookview neighborhoods and link to existing pathways.
• TSN reports that Larry Thompson, a local businessman and longtime season ticket holder, is set to become the new private owner of the Edmonton Elks, according to an anonymous CFL source. If confirmed, the ownership change would leave the CFL with only two community-owned teams.
• The City of Edmonton has adjusted the hours of the Rapid Emergency Support Terminal for evacuees from Jasper and Jasper National Park to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since July 23, more than 2,500 evacuees have registered at the Kennedale location. The Canadian Red Cross will continue to assist on-site during operating hours.
• Early estimates suggest that the total value of buildings destroyed in the Jasper wildfire is about $283 million. Residents have been invited to return home on Friday, though officials warn that properties may not be habitable due to internal damage and that basic services remain extremely limited.
• Edmonton Public Schools will accommodate Jasper students displaced by wildfires by helping them enroll before the school year starts on Aug. 29. Schools in Jasper are currently unsafe due to ash and smoke damage, and it is unknown when they will be able to reopen.
• Edmonton's risk of a fast-spreading wildfire is lower than Jasper's due to the predominance of deciduous trees, which are slower to ignite compared to evergreen trees. City of Edmonton ecologist Courtney Teliske notes that Edmonton's rapid fire detection and response capabilities further reduce wildfire risks, although areas with dense evergreens and dry debris remain higher risk. "The fires that start in the boreal forest, they can go for days without anyone seeing them. Here, there's people everywhere. So the detection is going to be that much quicker," said Teliske.
• Starting April 1, 2025, Alberta will permanently expand its recycling program to include more than 500 additional electronic items and develop Canada's first provincial recycling programs for solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and wind turbine components. The expansion will make Alberta's recycling system the most comprehensive in Canada. The initiative was announced at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre, which will also receive a $250,000 investment for AI-powered hazardous waste detection technology.
• The St. Louis Blues have extended offer sheets to Edmonton Oilers defenceman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway, proposing two-year contracts worth $4.58 million and $2.29 million per season, respectively. Edmonton has seven days to match these offers; otherwise, they will receive draft picks as compensation. Broberg and Holloway, both high draft picks, played pivotal roles in Edmonton's recent playoff success.

On this day in 1909, the Edmonton arm of the Union Bank of Canada was advertising its savings accounts, as well as growing. The bank would soon move into its new building on Jasper Avenue.

That new structure was part of a bank boom that hit Jasper Avenue right before the First World War, which broke out in 1914. A total of 10 new banks were built downtown during this period. It was a sign of the rapid growth in people and prosperity Edmonton experienced in the early 1900s. But today, of all those bank-boom buildings, only the Union Bank survives.

Union Bank branches were a common sight across the Prairies. The company, founded in Quebec in 1866, became known as the 'pioneer bank' because of its strategy of opening hundreds of branches across Western Canada to handle land deals and loans for settlers moving west. The bank opened its first branch in Edmonton in 1900, but within a decade business had grown enough that a new building was needed.

The company purchased the land on the corner of 100 Street and Jasper Avenue, and hired architect Roland Lines to design the building. Lines's design was a departure from the norm. At the time, many bank buildings were inspired by ancient Greek architecture, like the Imperial Bank of Canada building on Jasper Avenue (built in 1954). However, Lines's plan for the Union Bank building took more from the Italian Renaissance. The exterior of the building was built with local red brick and Indiana limestone — the same type of limestone that Lines used on another of his nearby jobs, the Canada Permanent Building. The first floor housed the bank itself, while the second floor was used for bank offices. The top floor held apartments for bank employees.

The Union Bank building was finished in 1910. Its opening can be seen to mark the start of a long history for downtown as a hub of financial companies. The Union Bank company merged with Royal Bank in 1925. A grain trading and stock broker company bought the building three years later and eventually sold it to a trust company, which held it until 1982.

In 1996, the Union Bank building was designated as a minimal historical resource, protecting it from demolition, a fate that befell most of Edmonton's other early banks. A year later, the Union Bank building reopened as the Union Bank Inn, becoming one of the city's first modern boutique hotels. It operated for nearly 25 years, closing down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Union Bank building has been shuttered since, but there are hints that it will continue its history as both a hotel and a part of the city's financial industry. A lender brokerage bought the building last year, and has plans to use it as a corporate headquarters, as well as a hotel and restaurant. And while nothing official has been announced, the Hyatt hotel chain lists the Union Bank Inn as one of their Alberta properties in the "pipeline" stage.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse of @VintageEdmonton.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• State of Lending Webinar starting at 10am online
• Affinity Group Virtual Sharing Café starting at 12pm online
• Risk Management: Protecting Yourself and Your Business starting at 12pm online
• Feast on the Field starting at 5pm at Commonwealth Stadium
• Family Nature Nights: Nature Detectives starting at 6pm at John Janzen Nature Centre
• Films at the Library: The Art of Racing in the Rain starting at 6:30pm at the Edmonton Public Library (Stanley A. Milner)
• Christ Church Garden Concerts: WindRose Trio starting at 7pm at the Anglican Parish of Christ Church
• Poetry Night starting at 7pm at The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse
• Courtland and T. Buckley starting at 7pm at Broadmoor Lake Park

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Aug. 25: Lemonade Stand Day: Less Sugar, More Love
• Sept. 2: Parking Lot Sales at the Old Strathcona Antique Mall
• Sept. 6-8: Purple City Music Festival

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.