| Home |
| Symbol
of St. Paul |
| |
| UFO
Landing Pad |
~History~
| Conception |
| Mr. John Lagassé, the soul of St. Paul's
Centennial Project, states in a letter to C.B.A. International,
Yokohama, Japan: " The basic idea of the landing pad came
from Mr. W.R. Treleaven of Hamilton, ON and Mr. Ken Reed of
Calgary AB. Margo Lagassé argued that this would be
an excellent Centennial Project to all that would hear across
Canada. The promotion of it was handled by the St. Paul Centennial
Committee". |
| Construction |
| ~ The building project was assumed by Car Ouells
Construction Co. of St. Paul. |
| ~ Cost $11,000 with no public funds provided for its construction. |
| ~ Canada Cement and Island Cement provided the cement; Hector
Steel provided the reinforcements; the engineer Alex Mair,
provided the plans and specifications |
| ~ Built at the main entrance to the recreation Grounds on
land donated by the town of St. Paul |
| ~ Six 30 inch pylons from the main column made of concrete
reinforced with steel. |
| ~ Weight: 130 tons. |
| ~ Hon. Grant MacEwan, Lieutenant Governor of
Alberta, officiated at the sod turning ceremony. |
| Design |
| ~ A map of Canada is embossed in its backstop, made of stones
provided by each province in Canada with each provincial flag
flown atop the backstop. |
| ~ A time capsule was built into the backstop, inserted with
letters addressed to Canadians, to be opened June 3rd, 2067. |
| Inauguration |
| ~ On June 3rd, 1967 the Hon. Paul Hellyer, Minister of Defense,
flew in by helicopter to officially open the Pad. The pad
was one of over 100 Centennial Projects organized by the town. |
| ~ In 1967, Mr. John Fisher, Centennial Commissioner, proclaimed
St. Paul "Centennial Star of Canada". |
| Tourist Information
Center |
| In 1990, St. Paul's Mayor Paul Langevin began toying with
some sketches for a new tourist booth. In 1992, construction
began on the rounded building designed as a UFO to complement
the adjacent Landing Pad. The booth, completed within budget,
opened for business in May 1993, with the official opening
held July 1, 1993. It served as the home of the St. Paul &
District Chamber of Commerce until 2008. |
| UFO Interpretive
Center |
| In 1996, an addition was built to the existing Tourist Information
Center to house a UFO Interpretive Display. This is an opportunity
to see actual photographs of UFOs, crop circles and cattle
mutilations and is designed to educate. It explains the various
degrees of sightings - first kind, second kind, etc. and shows
ingenious methods to hoax the public. You decide! Purchased
from the J. allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies in San Francisco,
USA, it is one of the two existing displays in North America. |
| UFO Hotline |
| In may 1995, a
toll free number was launched to complement St. Paul's UFO
theme. Reports of UFO sightings, cattle mutilations, abductions,
crop circles, and encounters of all kinds are documented
in the data center. You are encouraged to report any of
your own experiences. |
| 1-888-SEE-UFOS |
| 1-888-733-8367 |
St Paul & District Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 887
St Paul, Alberta T0A 3A0
PHONE/FAX: 780-645-5820
admin@stpaulchamber.ca
|
