Family gift supports the Studio in Fredericton’s new Performing Arts Centre
A gift of $250,000 has been made to the Encore! campaign by the family of J.W. Bud Bird, a local businessman and former Mayor of Fredericton. In recognition of this gift, the multi-use Studio on the main floor of the Centre will be named in lasting appreciation to the family.
The Studio will be a large space accessible from both the main lobby and backstage, one that will be used for a wide variety of functions such as intimate performances, presentations, receptions, special events, classes and workshops, lectures, auditions, rehearsals and other creative activities.
“The Studio will be an amazing space in the new Centre,” says Tim Yerxa, Executive Director of Fredericton Playhouse Inc. “It could be a ballet studio one day, a formal performance space the next, and a dining room for artists the day after that. This gift from the Bird family will join with the generosity of many other local names within our community who have stepped up as builders of this performing arts facility which will be enjoyed and respected by generations to come.”
For more than sixty-five years, Bud Bird has been an entrepreneur, both within New Brunswick and across the Atlantic region. His late wife Peggy was a devoted partner. The founder of construction products company Bird Stairs, which he sold to employees in 1988, Bud has continued his business career as President of Bird Holdings Ltd., a private real estate investment company where he still maintains his office on a daily basis.
Sharing a large part of his life in public service, Bud has been Mayor of Fredericton, Minister of Natural Resources in New Brunswick, and a Member of Parliament for Fredericton-York-Sunbury, all over a span of more than fifteen years. He has also been active as an addicted angler and conservationist, with terms as Chairman of the Miramichi Salmon Association, a Director of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, and a Canadian Commissioner to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO).
During his career, Bud has been inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada, also as a member of the Order of New Brunswick, and has received an honorary degree from UNB.
The Bird family has long supported performing arts, primarily through the Stephen Graham Bird Trust at Theatre New Brunswick, named for elder son Stephen, who was deceased at an early age having devoted his life and education to amateur theatre. Sharing in this most recent gift are the six remaining children; Cathy, Nancy, Bill, Michael, Karen and Margot, all of whom have graduated from various universities to pursue careers in nursing, mental health, business and law in Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick.
“The new performing arts centre is a challenging cultural investment for Fredericton and for New Brunswick”, says Bud Bird, “and its importance is emphasized by the generous financial support which has been forthcoming from so many citizens in this community.”