A ribbon cutting ceremony marking the official opening of the Celgar Pavilion at Millennium Park was held Friday. A good sized crowd filled the pavilion and enjoyed refreshments served by Castlegar Rotary Club members while waiting for the speeches to be made and the blue ribbon to be cut by shiny golden scissors.
The opening brings to completion three years of hard work by the partners and contractors involved in the project. What was originally an idea for a multi-use facility by Rotary members quickly became a larger project when an overwhelming response by funding partners resulted in more money coming in than was needed for the original plan.
Zellstoff Celgar managing director Kevin Anderson was on hand for the festivities and shared the companies enthusiasm for the project, “We are very proud to be able to support this project and very grateful to have the honour and privilege to have it named as our namesake, the Celgar Pavilion,” said Anderson. “We believe it will be a great meeting place for the community to come together. We hope the pavilion will be a lasting legacy to demonstrate Celgar's place in the community, its ongoing commitment to be here and continue to support this community.”
The facility includes the pavilion itself, a commercial kitchen, concession area and storage space for the soccer association. The facility will be available to be reserved for exclusive use through the Castlegar Community Centre, but the picnic area will be open to the public at all other times.
A striking sculpture “The Goose Flies Over the Moon” has been installed on the front side of the pavilion. The sculpture was created by Kevin Kratz and James Karthein, the same artists who have given us the heron sculpture near the highway interchange and the northern leopard frog sculpture downtown.
Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff praised the work and contribution to the city that all involved have made. “It is businesses like Zellstoff Celgar that make our city great by investing directly back into our community. I would also want to acknowledge the Rotary Clubs for all of their hard work in funding and coordinating construction of this new building,” said Chernoff. “The Celgar Pavilion will be a great addition to the Millennium Park for years to come. Our aim is to make Millennium Park the best park in the West Kootenay and this project helps us meet the goal.”