Shania Twain Centre

Opened on June 30 2001, the Shania Twain Centre is a tourist attraction located in Timmins, Ontario. Since its opening, the Centre has received memorabilia, awards and many other personal items from Shania Twain, the most prominent person to have come from Timmins.

Timeline

September 2000
*Excavation and land clearing begins.

October 2000
*Contract was awarded to build the Shania Twain Centre for $3.7 Million. Construction on the project was expected to be complete by July 2001 and would include a convert|4000|sqft|m2|sing=on exhibit space on Shania, a convert|1200|sqft|m2|sing=on traveling exhibit space and a convert|1000|sqft|m2|sing=on retail area. The new Interpretive Centre will house over a $1-million worth in memorabilia including awards and clothing loaned by Shania.

November 6, 2000
*Ground Breaking Ceremony, The official "golden shovel" used for the ceremony even had Shania's name engraved on it.

November 20, 2000
*Contest to Name the Shania Twain Centre - Residents of Timmins had the final say to help name the new Shania Twain Centre. The original name designated by city officials was the "Shania Twain Interpretive Centre." The 5 possible choices were: Shania Twain Experience!; Shania Twain Centre; Shania Twain At Home; Shania Twain Music Centre; or the Shania Twain Interpretive Centre. Ballots were accepted at the Timmins Museum on Legion Drive in South Porcupine until Nov. 24 at midnight. Residents were also able to send in their choice via e-mail. All ballots were entered into a drawing for a prize package of Shania memorabilia. The official name is now the "Shania Twain Centre". Votes were accepted via e-mail, regular mail or local ballots at the . The most popular choice was the "Shania Twain Centre," with 42 per cent of the vote. 254 votes were received in the short time-frame. All entries were included in the drawing for a special Shania memorabilia pack, included photos, T-shirt, music book, Shania video and posters. Marguerite Dubeau of Timmins was the Fan Pack winner.

January 15, 2001
*The Shania Twain Centre has received additional funding of $450,000 from a Human Resources Development Canada fund for the $6-million project.

March 23, 2001
*Due to Shania's pregnancy and timing, the Shania Twain Centre has officially announced Shania will be unable to attend the opening of the Centre in person on Saturday June 30, 2001.

May 1, 2001
*The new "musical" Shania Twain Centre logo design was created by Wendy Mairs of Blue Heron Graphics, with the blue and gold scheme matching the City of Timmins logo colors. The Shania Centre logo, approved by Shania, will be featured in all official promotional literature and marketing activities. The city of Timmins, Ontario has completed the new $6 million interactive Shania Twain Centre in her hometown, and expanded it's famous Underground Gold Mine Tour. Shania has already donated $1 million worth of unique memorabilia, awards & wardrobe items to help launch the Centre, and will continue to donate as the exhibits evolve.

June 30, 2001
*The Shania Twain Centre was dedicated with special celebrations over Canada Day weekend.

June 2002
*A great new Electronic Guestbook Kiosk is now installed to allow visitors to send Shania Centre "e-postcards" to friends and family.

November 4, 2002
*The Shania Twain Centre won the Best Original Float award in the 13th annual Timmins Christmas parade.

August 5, 2003
*The first Shania Twain Fan Convention was held in Shania's hometown of Timmins, Ontario from August 7-10.

July 10, 2004
*At a concert in Sunrise, Florida, Shania announces to her fans that her tour stage would be donated to the Shania Twain Centre in her hometown of Timmins so fans from around the world could see it when visiting the STC. She stated that one day, her son Eja, would be able to also visit the STC and walk on the same stage that his mother walked on during the Up tour.

August 2004
*Fans attending the 2nd annual Shania Twain Fan Convention are surprised when her stage is unveiled at the McIntyre Curling Club. It is also announced that night that Shania has donated her tour bus to the Shania Twain Centre. The bus is visited by fans for the first time. Also attending the fan convention are Cory Churko and JD Blair, two members of Shania's band.

November 2, 2004
*Shania Twain makes her first official visit to the Shania Twain Centre and officially declares it open. Hundreds of fans from around the world travelled to Timmins for this historic occasion. Some fans waited in line over 20 hours to receive wristbands that guaranteed an autograph and quick meeting with Shania.

August 2005
*100 fans attend the 3rd Annual Shania Twain Fan Convention. Shania's drummer JD Blair and her guitarist Randall Waller also attend the convention.

August 2006
*The fourth Annual Shania Twain Fan Convention is held in Timmins. JD Blair, Shania's drummer, and Allison Cornell, her fiddler, attend the convention.

August 2007
*The fifth Annual Shania Twain Fan Convention is held in Timmins. 50 fans from around the world gather in Shania Twain's hometown and participate in activities such as a karaoke night, a country party, a mini-golf tournament and Go-cart races. Band members were unable to attend this year but a recorded message by JD Blair, Shania's drummer, was played during the convention. Randall Waller, Shania's guitarist, also sent in a message and some pictures of himself and his family.

hania Twain fans and the Shania Twain Centre

Annual Fan Conventions

Every summer, fans of Shania Twain travel to her hometown of Timmins for the International Shania Twain Fan Convention. 32 fans attended the inaugural fan convention in 2003. Since then, as many as 100 fans have travelled to Timmins in August for the 4 day event. Many fans have attended each of the 6 conventions.

Generosity

One of the things that has stood out at each Fan Convention has been the generosity of those who attend. Over the past 4 conventions, fans have donated more than US$5,000 to the local food banks.

Message Board

In June 2005, the Shania Twain Centre launched their online [http://www.shaniatwaincentre.com/forum message Board] . Currently, over 600 members from 40+ countries have registered for the Board. Over 37,000 messages have been posted since its inception.

External links

* [http://www.shaniatwaincentre.com/ Shania Twain Centre Homepage]