The City of Cranbrook has announced that a senior manager within the administration will be resigning at the end of the month.
Chris New, the Director of Recreation and Culture, has been with the city for the last 12 years, serving as an events and marketing manager under the former Leisure Services department before moving up to a director position in 2012.
New’s last day with the city will be Nov. 27, according to a press release issued by the city.
As the events and marketing manager, drawing big ticket acts and performances to Western Financial Place was one of his first challenges, which required building up relationships within a network of event and concert promoters.
“Growing up in Cranbrook, as a kid it was pretty exciting to get a small show like Red Rider or Trooper in town,” said New, in the city’s news release. “To be part of the development of Cranbrook as a viable small market to promoters, and an event centre for the region, attracting shows such as Bob Dylan, ZZ Top, Tragically Hip, Alice Cooper, George Thorogood and so many others, is exciting to be a part of.”
New added the redevelopment of Idlewild Park was one of his favourite projects to be involved in.
“It was rewarding to be there from the start with the development of the master plan, through to the complete facelift that the park has undergone. It was a great process through external partnerships, community input, Council support, city teamwork and the final construction and implementation to deliver such a jewel to our community,” New said.
Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt, council and administration staff thanked New for his contributions to the city during his tenure and wished him well in future endeavors.
“Chris has worked very hard for this organization during his time here, overseeing a large staff with a variety of wide-reaching responsibilities and managing many prominent projects around the community,” said Mayor Pratt. “And with the COVID-19 pandemic, it added significant challenges to how our facilities and operations run. Chris was instrumental to the City’s restart planning to allow us to safely reopen our spaces and facilities for our residents. I thank him greatly for that.”
Prior to coming on board with city administration, New spent 24 years with the College of the Rockies.
The City will begin the recruitment process for a new Recreation & Culture director in the coming weeks.
