NDP Caucus

Country Music Hall of Fame

In the dying days of the Devine Progressive Conservative government, a desperate attempt was made to hold onto the one urban seat it had a chance of winning by bringing a museum called the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame to Swift Current.

The museum was given $150,000 in taxpayer’s money and placed in the hands of a senior assistant to the Minister of Economic Diversification. After three short years, the assistant had run the museum into the ground and its doors were permanently closed.

That assistant’s name was Brad Wall.

Below is the story of this debacle told through excerpts from newspaper stories of the time. They report the true story of a bankrupt business and the loss of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer’s dollars, not to mention the anxiety and distress caused to artists and musicians who had trusted Wall’s museum project with valuable memorabilia from their lives and careers.

There is not one shred of evidence that given the opportunity, Wall wouldn’t mismanage the province just as woefully as he mismanaged the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Does he deserve that chance?

November 1989:	"The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame opens in Kitchener Ontario" [1] "In Kitchener, [it was] predicted to have 300,000 to 400,000 visitors ... " [1]
September 1991:	"The Hall of Fame is moved to Swift Current after Saskatchewan Premier Grant Devine — in the midst of an election campaign — offered $150,000 of provincial money to move the tourist attraction." [2] "[It] moved because the Saskatchewan Government was showering support, in the form of a $150,000 grant and later a $45,000 loan from federal Western Diversification." [1]
October 1991:	"Romanow and his New Democrats are behaving more like a government talking about future policy. Meanwhile, Devine criss-crosses the province leaving a gift behind at every doorstep. There is an aircraft assembly plant for Saskatoon and a movable insurance company for Regina from Toronto. There is an expanded uranium industry for the north and a country music hall of fame for Swift Current." [3] "Tom Douglas, executive director of diversification with Saskatchewan Economic Development, said the former Conservative government approved the grant [for $150,000]." [1]
February 1992:	"Brad Wall, a former assistant to Conservative tourism minister John Gerich, who helped lure the Hall of Fame to Saskatchewan, became the hall's manager." [1] "'It's a really good location ... ' the number one concern was the highway — to be close to Highway 1,' said Brad Wall, acting project manager ....'[A]nd the overnight bus stops are good, too.' " [4] "The location was poor, invisible from the Trans-Canada Highway ... " [1] "Wall, an executive assistant to former associate minister John Gerich — who helped negotiate the relocation deal — expects the museum to attract at least 34,000 people in it’s first year. 'The break-even point is 28,000, so we expect to make money', [Wall] said Tuesday." [4] "The next three years saw annual attendance drop to an average of 2,500 visitors [per year]." [1]
Summer 1994:	"'The number one concern was the highway — to be close to Highway 1,' said Brad Wall."[4] "Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the summer of 1994 that a Hall of Fame billboard finally appeared on the Trans-Canada." [1]
September 1995:	"Predictions of 40,000 visitors annually fell far short, with less than 3000 people attending."[5] "Wall, and his two full time staff people, couldn’t make it work.The location was poor, invisible from the Trans-Canada highway. And corporate sponsorships dried up, as did the marketing money, Wall said."[1] "'Certainly it's not the best site,' former hall manager Brad Wall said." [5] [Keep in mind he said "It's a really good location" just two years earlier.]
October 1995:	"The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame went into receivership June 30, 1995 and closed its doors indefinitely on Oct 20, 1995." [1] "There is no indication the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame will ever open again." [6] "A board member, who requested anonymity, said the whole deal was troubled from its inception. 'There was just no way (the hall) was ever going to make it out there in that location — you needed a map to find it', the board member said. 'It was basically one last grasp by a conservative government on its way out to try and hold on to the one urban seat it hoped to win.'" [6] "The City [of Swift Current] is owed some $15,000 in taxes and utilities ... " [6] "Members of the Hall of Fame are worried about the memorabilia — the guitars, awards and clothing — that they loaned the facility years ago. Someone even called the Canadian Country Music Association to see if it was interested." [6] "Tom Tompkins, president of the association, said five years ago they would have jumped at the chance. But the group has already embarked on its own Country Music Hall of Fame in Edmonton." [1]

sources:

[1] "Country Music Center at a Low Note"
- Regina Leader-Post: December 27, 1995.

[2] "Hall of Fame is Lured West"
- Calgary Herald: September 26, 1991.

[3] "Saskatchewan searches for its lost promise"
- Calgary Herald: October 20,1991.

[4] "Hall of Fame Construction Starts Soon"
- Regina Leader-Post: February 28, 1992.

[5] "Country Music Hall Broke but Keeps on Humming"
- Western Producer: September 14, 1995.

[6] "Crooners worry it’s past last call at Hall of Fame"
- Regina Leader-Post: November 21, 1995.