Office of the President 3-1 University Hall www.ualberta.ca Tel: 780.492.3212 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2J9
[email protected] Fax: 780.492.9265 Official Opening – Enterprise Square 15 January 2008 Enterprise Square 10:30 am I.V. Samarasekera, OC President and Vice-Chancellor The Honorable Dave Hancock, Minister of Health and Wellness, The Honorable Rona Ambrose, President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Western Economic Diversification, His Worship Mayer Stephen Mandel, partners, colleagues, staff, students, alumni, friends and neighbours…. Welcome to 2008, welcome to the University of Alberta’s Centenary, and most especially today, welcome to the official launch of Enterprise Square! It’s my great pleasure to welcome the community back into one of Edmonton’s treasured historical landmarks. Today marks the reawakening of a vital and historically significant block on Jasper Ave. I am also very pleased to have this opportunity thank our government partners, without whose strong, foundational support we would not be here today. Edmonton’s downtown is in a period of crucial transformation. With every passing month, increasing numbers of people are working in and moving into the heart of the city, bringing into the centre of Edmonton the cultural, economic and intellectual energy fuelling the prosperity felt throughout the province. Such revitalization is not happening by chance. It is the result of creative and collaborative thinking of the kind that brought Enterprise Square into being. When the University of Alberta first realized that redevelopment of the old Hudson’s Bay Building could play an exciting role in achieving our future goals in learning, discovery, entrepreneurship, and community engagement, we hoped that it would also become a stellar example of collaboration across three orders of government.