Kristian
10-29-2004, 10:06pm
Here's some info I found, I hope this hasn't been already posted
Updated at 13:58 on October 29, 2004, EST.
http://www3.cjad.com/global_feeds/canadianpress/entertainmentnews//e102911A.jpg
Canadian country music star Shania Twain holds up the key to the city given to her in her home town of Timmins in this file photo. (CP/Frank Gunn) (CP) - Francesca Vassallo is positively giddy about making her fifth trip in four years to the sleepy northern Ontario city of Timmins.
The political science professor from Portland, Maine wants to be with fellow Shania Twain fans when the singer returns home Tuesday to cut the ribbon on a museum dedicated to her career.
"For every Shania fan, it's a dream come true to go to Timmins," said Vassallo.
"Everything Shania says about the city is true. It really is the city with the heart of gold."
Such talk is music to the ears of townsfolk who have long hoped that the centre will become an international tourist destination, bringing new jobs to the cash-strapped region.
The city of 43,000 - an eight hour drive from Toronto - is scrubbing down and cleaning up in anticipation of the singer's visit, which Mayor Vic Power has declared Shania Twain Day.
The streets are lined with flags and hotels and restaurants have extra staff ready to deal with the estimated 5,000 fans expected to attend.
Twain devotees will arrive in planes, trains and automobiles from places including Ireland, India and the United States.
While the Shania Twain Centre started accepting visitors in 2001, the country songstress has yet to "officially" open the doors of the $11-million facility.
Her last visit home was in 2000 where she made a surprise visit for her high school reunion. Before that, she played a Canada Day concert in 1999 for 25,000 fans.
If any locals are complaining that it took Twain too long to visit the centre, they're keeping mum. The majority are buzzing with excitement and anticipation over Twain's homecoming - and the tourism dollars that come with it.
The 3,000-square-metre facility is home to the singer's musical instruments, her first-ever Grammy award as well as dozens of her stage outfits - including the navel-baring tops that turned heads when she burst onto the scene in 1993.
There are some hints, however, that the centre hasn't turned out to be the tourist mecca some had hoped for.
The museum sees between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors annually, says Frank Roch, the city's tourism co-ordinator.
At $9 a ticket, that means the city has yet to recoup the original cost of the centre.
Roch remains optimistic.
"For a community like Timmins in northern Ontario that (number) to us is great," he said.
"It's only starting to grow. When the centre launched she was between albums. Over the last couple years with the launch of Up! and now the greatest hits CD she's been much more in the public eye. Every detail of her life is studied a little bit closer. As a result, people are trying to get more information. One of the ways to do that is to come to the centre because we have a lot of personal and professional memorabilia."
Still, he admits the centre hasn't stirred the local economy as quickly as some had anticipated.
"Has it caused the opening of new hotels and restaurants? Probably not. But it has stabilized some of the businesses for the summer season," he said.
Singer Anne Murray knows first hand how a museum can help a small town.
Her centre in Springhill, N.S., which has been open 15 years, has been a boon for that small community.
She worries that the Twain centre won't have the same longevity because of its far-flung location.
"It's been great for the town of Springhill. It's not quite as remote as Timmins. That's going to be tough going," she said.
"If you had Shania Twain's museum in Niagara Falls or some other mainstream place, you'd go gangbusters. But that's where we come from, so that's where they are."
Despite the skeptics, many in Timmins think the centre has lived up to expectations.
"Tourism has improved. I can tell by the amount of people coming through here," said Todd Fountain, a manager at Casey's Bar and Grill down the street from Twain's centre.
The city has created travel packages with nearby Cochrane, Ont., that take tourists to the Shania centre, golf courses and a polar bear habitat.
"Like any other new building we're still in the process of repaying the costs of building it," said Roch. "That'll come in time. It's not something we worry about."
Instead, Timmins is building on its celebrity attractions. The mayor's office has planned a Bill Birilko event to honour the late hockey player later in the month.
Meanwhile, the centre's staff try to keep diehard Twain fans like Vassallo happy by regularly updating exhibits with new materials sent by Twain's management.
Vassallo, 34, says she's not the least bit upset about being away from home on Tuesday - the day of the U.S. election.
She's not an American citizen and, besides, she says, her students are well aware of her allegiance to Twain.
"I don't know if they know about my trip, but they definitely know I like Shania's music," she said.
The Canadian Press, 2004
Here's the link where I found it:
http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.aspid=/global_feeds/canadianpress/entertainmentnews/e102911A.htm
Updated at 13:58 on October 29, 2004, EST.
http://www3.cjad.com/global_feeds/canadianpress/entertainmentnews//e102911A.jpg
Canadian country music star Shania Twain holds up the key to the city given to her in her home town of Timmins in this file photo. (CP/Frank Gunn) (CP) - Francesca Vassallo is positively giddy about making her fifth trip in four years to the sleepy northern Ontario city of Timmins.
The political science professor from Portland, Maine wants to be with fellow Shania Twain fans when the singer returns home Tuesday to cut the ribbon on a museum dedicated to her career.
"For every Shania fan, it's a dream come true to go to Timmins," said Vassallo.
"Everything Shania says about the city is true. It really is the city with the heart of gold."
Such talk is music to the ears of townsfolk who have long hoped that the centre will become an international tourist destination, bringing new jobs to the cash-strapped region.
The city of 43,000 - an eight hour drive from Toronto - is scrubbing down and cleaning up in anticipation of the singer's visit, which Mayor Vic Power has declared Shania Twain Day.
The streets are lined with flags and hotels and restaurants have extra staff ready to deal with the estimated 5,000 fans expected to attend.
Twain devotees will arrive in planes, trains and automobiles from places including Ireland, India and the United States.
While the Shania Twain Centre started accepting visitors in 2001, the country songstress has yet to "officially" open the doors of the $11-million facility.
Her last visit home was in 2000 where she made a surprise visit for her high school reunion. Before that, she played a Canada Day concert in 1999 for 25,000 fans.
If any locals are complaining that it took Twain too long to visit the centre, they're keeping mum. The majority are buzzing with excitement and anticipation over Twain's homecoming - and the tourism dollars that come with it.
The 3,000-square-metre facility is home to the singer's musical instruments, her first-ever Grammy award as well as dozens of her stage outfits - including the navel-baring tops that turned heads when she burst onto the scene in 1993.
There are some hints, however, that the centre hasn't turned out to be the tourist mecca some had hoped for.
The museum sees between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors annually, says Frank Roch, the city's tourism co-ordinator.
At $9 a ticket, that means the city has yet to recoup the original cost of the centre.
Roch remains optimistic.
"For a community like Timmins in northern Ontario that (number) to us is great," he said.
"It's only starting to grow. When the centre launched she was between albums. Over the last couple years with the launch of Up! and now the greatest hits CD she's been much more in the public eye. Every detail of her life is studied a little bit closer. As a result, people are trying to get more information. One of the ways to do that is to come to the centre because we have a lot of personal and professional memorabilia."
Still, he admits the centre hasn't stirred the local economy as quickly as some had anticipated.
"Has it caused the opening of new hotels and restaurants? Probably not. But it has stabilized some of the businesses for the summer season," he said.
Singer Anne Murray knows first hand how a museum can help a small town.
Her centre in Springhill, N.S., which has been open 15 years, has been a boon for that small community.
She worries that the Twain centre won't have the same longevity because of its far-flung location.
"It's been great for the town of Springhill. It's not quite as remote as Timmins. That's going to be tough going," she said.
"If you had Shania Twain's museum in Niagara Falls or some other mainstream place, you'd go gangbusters. But that's where we come from, so that's where they are."
Despite the skeptics, many in Timmins think the centre has lived up to expectations.
"Tourism has improved. I can tell by the amount of people coming through here," said Todd Fountain, a manager at Casey's Bar and Grill down the street from Twain's centre.
The city has created travel packages with nearby Cochrane, Ont., that take tourists to the Shania centre, golf courses and a polar bear habitat.
"Like any other new building we're still in the process of repaying the costs of building it," said Roch. "That'll come in time. It's not something we worry about."
Instead, Timmins is building on its celebrity attractions. The mayor's office has planned a Bill Birilko event to honour the late hockey player later in the month.
Meanwhile, the centre's staff try to keep diehard Twain fans like Vassallo happy by regularly updating exhibits with new materials sent by Twain's management.
Vassallo, 34, says she's not the least bit upset about being away from home on Tuesday - the day of the U.S. election.
She's not an American citizen and, besides, she says, her students are well aware of her allegiance to Twain.
"I don't know if they know about my trip, but they definitely know I like Shania's music," she said.
The Canadian Press, 2004
Here's the link where I found it:
http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.aspid=/global_feeds/canadianpress/entertainmentnews/e102911A.htm