With the City of Cranbrook since 2008, Chris New is resigning as the City’s Director of Recreation and Culture as of November 27th.
New first came on to work with the City in August 2008 as the Events and Marketing Manager, before moving up to direct the entire department in 2012. Before his time with the City, New spent 24 years with the College of the Rockies.
According to the City, one of New’s biggest challenges when he started was attracting big-ticket events to Western Financial Place, working to prove that the City was a viable concert market.
“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. “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 said one of his favourite projects with the City of Cranbrook was the redevelopment of Idlewild Park, which continues to see ongoing updates and improvements.
“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.”
Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt said New worked very hard for the City during his time with the municipality, from the management of prominent projects around the community to overseeing a large staff with wide-reaching responsibilities.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic, it added significant challenges to how our facilities and operations run,” added Pratt. “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.”
The City of Cranbrook, Mayor Pratt, and City Council all thanked for his contributions and all wish him well in the next stage of his career and his future plans. New has not yet revealed what those next steps may be.
“The City will begin the recruitment process for a new Recreation and Culture Director in the coming weeks,” confirmed the City of Cranbrook.