Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: Most of displays, clothes removed from Shania Centre


Guru

Status: Online
Posts: 17300
Date:
Most of displays, clothes removed from Shania Centre


Displays removed from Shania Twain Centre

Facility still operating at a reduced capacity

By Ron Grech, The Daily Press

June 13, 2012
 
While the city residents’ attention was focused on the threat of forest fires, dramatic changes were quietly occurring at the Shania Twain Centre.

Most of the clothes and displayed items were packaged up and returned to Shania Twain and, Tracey Hautanen, facility’s manager had resigned.

The centre is still operating but at a reduced capacity.

Hautanen is now working more closely with Twain, helping to co-ordinate the singer’s charity, Shania Kids Can

Hautanen said the change didn’t come out of the blue.

The city had been corresponding with Twain’s management for several months prior to the changes and it was clear the city intended to downsize the exhibit area.

“It’s no secret the city has been exploring other options for that facility,” said Hautanen. “It’s been going on for years. Over the past year or year and a half, the city has extensively been looking for other uses for that facility ... It was always my job to ensure that Shania’s management was always kept in the loop. One of the things we never wanted to do was blindside her and say, ‘By the way, it’s now a smaller exhibit.’

“Of course when someone keeps telling you they’re going to downsize, you start thinking of other options for your collection which is what she did.”

She said Twain plans to use some of the exhibits herself to promote her charity as well as her two-year stint performing in Las Vegas which begins in December.

“She is coming up to really launching the charity she has had going for a while,” said Hautanen. “And so she approached the city and asked, ‘Are you still considering downsizing my collection?’ and they said ‘Yes, we are.’ She was fine with that.”

In accordance with the contract her management, Maple Leaf Productions, had signed with the city, 30-days notice was given to package and return most of the collection by May 30.

“I was there to oversee the packing of the collection and ensure there was an exhibit available to the community and then I will oversee the collection being displayed in several other locations throughout Ontario and potentially the United States,” said Hautanen. “Really that showcases Timmins even more because in every display, we will be talking about her hometown of Timmins and the Shania Kids Can program.

“She is going to use the collection and showcase it in different areas to help promote Shania Kids Can which is her charity which she is going full force with.”

“There are some great opportunities to showcase the foundation, to showcase Timmins,” said Hautanen. “It’s not at all a matter of ‘I’m taking my stuff and leaving.’ It’s a more a case of, ‘It’s OK, you don’t need all of it. How can I use it?’”

Hautanen said the door has been left open for many of the exhibits from the collection to return and be displayed in Timmins.

“Once the city determines what it’s doing with that building, the door is always open for more stuff to come back in the meantime, their direction was the downsizing of the exhibit space and she was completely fine with that. She didn’t want to leave them with nothing. This is her hometown. This is where she started one of her first programs for her charity so she wants to continue to be supportive.”

The city’s chief administrator, Joe Torlone, said if an alternative use is to be found for the Shania Twain Centre, administration would be asked to provide a report with recommendations.

At this point, staff has not been directed to provide council with such a report.

“We have a reduced Shania collection because some of it is being used to promote her Vegas opening and a few other things,” said Torlone. “But it’s business as usual. We have the mine tour running, we have a reduced collection, the gift shop is open.

“If we were going to do something with that, we would then make a recommendation to council but at this time there is nothing that is being prepared for council’s consideration.”

Hautanen had been with the Shania Twain Centre since since it opened on July 1, 2001.

She said she now will be working closely with Twain and the singer’s husband Fred Thiébaud, helping to build up the charity that has been operating as a pilot program in both Timmins and Huntsville.

“Shania Kids Can is an initiative she has started in the schools to ensure kids have healthy nutrition, an adult they can talk to when they need to, extra homework support, any extra guidance that they need is available to them in the school in a designated area whether it is life skills, training and social skills,” said Hautanen. “It is an add-on so that kids get a fair start and there is an equality for all kids and they can go through the gate at the same speed.”

http://www.thedailypress.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3584806



__________________

Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite
shaniasupersite.com

Our eyes are closed, but we're not asleep, We're wide awake beneath the sheets



Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 988
Date:

That's very sad. :(

__________________


Guru

Status: Online
Posts: 17300
Date:

Timmins' Shania Twain centre downsizes

Large part of famous singer's collection will go on an international tour

CBC News | Posted: Jul 18, 2012

Tourists and fans looking to get their fix of Shania Twain memorabilia may be disappointed with what they find in her former home town of Timmins.

The Shania Twain Centre recently downsized its collection of Shania's outfits and awards after all but four of the singer's outfits and other memorabilia were removed.

Tracy Hautanen, the former manager of the centre, said 16 outfits will travel to other parts of the world, including Las Vegas, where Shania Twain is set to open a show in December.

"We feel that we can use the collection in other ways to help promote the charity and the show in Vegas and what not, so this was a good opportunity for her to start diversifying the use of the collection,” said Hautanen, who now works with the Shania Kids Can Foundation.

Hautanen was the manager of the Shania Twain Centre for more than a decade.

While the collection is now smaller than it was, Hautanen said Shania will always continue to have a presence in Timmins.

"We will always continue to have an exhibit here, just on a small scale, so the city can use the facility for other means if they need to,” she said. “We'll always rotate the exhibit, as well, so there will always be different things for people to see."

The Shania Twain Centre will no longer charge admission and the remainder of the Shania exhibit will be housed in the building's lobby.

The City of Timmins conducted a study last year to examine alternative options for the centre in the future.

City councillor Todd Lever said the centre has never impressed him much.

"Its location — and the fact that it was originally designed as a tourist attraction — makes it a little more difficult to change it into an alternative use."

Click link below to listen to an interview with Tracy Hautanen.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/story/2012/07/18/sby-shania-twain-centre-downsizes.html



__________________

Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite
shaniasupersite.com

Our eyes are closed, but we're not asleep, We're wide awake beneath the sheets



Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 8
Date:

I find this sad as well. I don't think Timmins was ever the right choice for this place, despite its obvious connection to Shania. Toronto, Ottawa, Deerhurst Resort or Nashville would've all been better options.

__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse
Powered by ActiveBoard