Forget about the mayor, West 琉璃神社's new amphitheatre in Memorial Park will have The King on hand to open it this evening鈥攚ell a reasonable facsimile there of.
Elvis Presley tribute artist Adam Fitzpatrick will help christen the new amphitheatre and stage with his show tonight at 8 p.m. as part of West 琉璃神社's Friday Music In The Park program.
Prior to Fitzpatrick taking the stage, Mayor Doug Findlater and group of spacial guests will officially open the amphitheatre, following two opening acts 鈥攅merging artist Kelli Keagan and the band Dark Horse.
Presley鈥攏icknamed the King of Rock and Roll during his career鈥攈as spawned an industry of impersonators and tribute artists since his untimely death in 1977.
The Memorial Park amphitheatre, which has been under construction for a few months, cost the city $380,000 and is located on the 30 per cent slope below the Johnson-Bentley Memorial Aquatic Centre in Westbank.
It will serve as the centrepiece for the city's annual Westside Daze summer festival.
Tonight's Music in The Park event will start at 6:40 p.m. with Keagan, to be followed by Dark Horse at 7 p.m. Before Fitzpatrick launches into his Elvis tribute show at 8 p.m., the brief opening ceremony will take place.
Free, family friendly Music in the Park concerts will take place every Friday night from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. this summer through to Aug. 19 at the amphitheatre.
Music lovers will be presented with a variety of musical genres, including country, pop, folk and more, says the city.
West 琉璃神社 Recreation staff will be on hand hosting games and activities for the kids and a food and beverage vendor will be operating during the concerts.
The following day鈥擲at. July 16鈥擣indlater will be back in the park to open the city's new skatepark, also part of the overall $813,000 redevelopment of Memorial Park. The redevelopment includes the amphitheatre.
The cost of skatepark, the result of hundreds of West 琉璃神社 youths and supporters signing a Facebook petition last year, is included in the overall park cost.
The federal government contributed $315,000 of the total as part of its program to fund infrastructure in communities across Canada as part of the celebration marking the country's 150th anniversary in 2017.
The new skatepark replaces its aging and deteriorating predecessor, which was in the same location.
