The night the map changed
Until the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium opened, the Palace Theatre was Calgary’s most important venue for theatre and concerts, according to the Alberta Register of Historic Places. Then the Jubilee showed up.
It was built between 1955 and 1957, and the Canadian Encyclopedia records its official inauguration on April 28, 1957, as a memorial to Alberta’s pioneers. Edmonton got a nearly identical twin. Dates for a building like this shift depending on if you count the groundbreaking, the first show or the finishing touches, and CANA Construction has its own page on the hall if you want another angle.
Whichever date you pick, Calgary ended up with a big, purpose-built hall for the performing arts, and the city’s cultural centre of gravity moved away from the old downtown theatres. See what’s on at the Jubilee this month, then look back at the Palace’s many lives to see what the old guard did before it arrived.
Quick answers
The Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium was built between 1955 and 1957. The Canadian Encyclopedia records its official inauguration on April 28, 1957, as a memorial to Alberta’s pioneers. Dates for a building like this shift depending on if you count the groundbreaking, the first show or the finishing touches.
Until the Jubilee opened, the Palace Theatre was Calgary’s most important venue for theatre and concerts, according to the Alberta Register of Historic Places. After the Jubilee arrived, the city’s cultural centre of gravity moved away from the old downtown theatres.
Yes, Edmonton got a nearly identical twin of the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Calgary’s hall was built between 1955 and 1957 and officially inaugurated on April 28, 1957, as a memorial to Alberta’s pioneers, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Sources: Alberta Register of Historic Places, The Canadian Encyclopedia, CANA Construction.
More from the archive: Fred Bagley Taught Calgary How to March in Time and Six Calgarians Built an Opera Company, and You Should Know Why.
