An Icon And Culture Take A Back Seat

Last week I was stunned to learn of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation’s decision to change the name of its iconic Red Robinson Show Theatre to “The Joint” when the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam, BC reopens as the Hard Rock Casino on Dec 20.

Like Michael Buble and many others in the entertainment industry, I can’t understand the thinking behind this and also feel that, Red Robinson, one of Vancouver’s cultural legends has been snubbed

Here’s a man who  brought rock and roll to Vancouver in the 1950’s.  As a teenage disc jockey, he was an early believer in the music and sowed the seeds of what has become an important music industry city.

He was a television celebrity, a concert promoter, record-label owner and a booking agent. He has written two books about Vancouver and was named to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland in 1995.

In addition to helping launch the careers of many in the industry, he continuously gave of his time for numerous charitable causes (and still does).

For me, the renaming of the Red Robinson Show Theatre to “The Joint” is breaking a valuable cultural link – it is akin to The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland one day deciding to change the name of its Alan Freed Radio Studio to “The Record Pit”.  Hopefully, that won’t happen.