Kinsmen Park gets amphitheatre
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
The Strathmore Kinsmen Club is building an amphitheatre in Kinsmen Park after two members of the community left money to the club in their will.
Dee and Dave Stephanson wanted a memorial to be put up in their name. Dave passed away 10-years ago, and when Dee Stephanson died three-years ago, approximately $70, 000 from their wills went to the Kinsmen club, the Legion, the Food Bank, and the Community Crisis Society.
“One of our members was their neighbor, and we would go out in the fall and help with the yard, and get things winterized. She sort of adopted us, and we sort of adopted her,” said Kinsmen member Doug Taylor.
The Kinsmen decided to erect a timber frame amphitheatre in memory of the Stephanson’s, and after about a year of discussion and planning, work has begun.
“We decided there was a need to upgrade the facilities at the Kinsmen Park,” said Taylor. “We thought there was a need in town for something that would hold a bigger crowd of people, something that would be multi use.”
The idea the Kinsmen club have is that the amphitheatre will be available for concerts, theatre performances, Canada Day and any other events which could use the space.
When the last beam goes up, there will be a bow off of a spruce tree tied to it, and a ceremony will be performed to bless the building. It will be at that time that the Kinsmen Club will dedicate it to the Stephansons.
“The main beam will actually have carved into it, ‘in memory of Dave and Dee Stephanson,’” said Taylor.
Crazy Creek Timber Frames Ltd., located just outside Okotoks, will be building the structure and should have it finished in a month. It will be 50 ft across the front and 30 ft across at the top, three sides will be enclosed, and there will be a storage shed at the back.