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Buying a cultural centre
02 October 2009
[indent]
Council has bought the former Cinema 4 building on Huron Street for $1.4 million. While that's a lot of money, consider that half of that comes from a provincial grant and the rest was drawn from town reserves, so it won't come from new taxes.
It's certainly a better use of your tax dollars than, say, wasting more than $400,000 on the mayor's fight against educational development charges, or the $250,000 the county will spend of your tax dollars (and which mayor supported in a closed-door meeting!) on a PR agent to make the county representatives (i.e. the mayor) look more electable next term.
The money for the purchase will come from the following sources:
The reasons for the purchase are manifold.
First, we needed a building large enough to host a post-secondary institute. Georgian College is a good choice for this. It would allow them to consolidate their premises and expand their offerings to local residents. Lots of parking for students on the lot, too. An expanded Georgian College will offer greater educational opportunities for residents and employers, as well as creating new jobs. An expanded Georgian College will also offer residents educational opportunities to improve themselves and go on to better jobs.
Second, we need a public cultural space - a place where community groups, film clubs and theatre groups can afford to host events and activities. Right now these groups have to lease or rent space in private buildings and the cost is higher than they would like (or can afford). This will give them the space to offer a broader, fuller range of cultural activities.
It will give us a public space to hold presentations, lectures, conventions, workshops, etc. Right now we have a hard time attracting conventions or similar events because we have not had a space to host some of their needs. This will be an economic incentive for local resorts and hotels to bid on those events. That in turn will help the local economy and could even create jobs.
There are those on council who think the town should ignore culture - Councillor Mike Edwards voted against the motion, complaining that we needed a roof over our second ice surface first (he also voted against everything to do with the new library, too, for much the same reason). But while recreation and sports are important, culture has been deeply neglected here and many opportunities to create cultural tourism and culture-based jobs and recreation have been overlooked. This - along with the new library* - is a chance to redress that shortcoming.
We MUST offer a balance that provide both cultural and recreational opportunities and activities. This purchase will, I hope, fulfill the dreams of the "community centre" group that tried to get such a facility built more than a decade ago.
Consider the demographics of this community - grey power is growing. We have a greater-than-provincial-average number of seniors, many of whom are retired (and reasonably to very well off). This growing group also tends to come from outside (Toronto, mostly) and arrives with a heightened sense of culture and a willingness to spend money enjoying it. This group brings a demand for increased and improved cultural events and activities, including film and theatre.
One example of this is the local Cinema Club. A few years ago, it was the largest film society in Ontario, outside Toronto, and is still rated in the top five, with about 1,000 members. That's an important group in this community.
Collingwood could host a whole new category of events in this facility. Imagine Collingwood as a destination for concerts, film festivals, theatrical productions!
There are hundreds of local artists who have been looking for additional places to display and sell their works. Art is not merely decorative, it is an economic engine (including opportunities in cultural tourism). When local artists have places to display AND sell their work, they prosper. And the gallery space gets a portion of the income from sales.
So the purchase is a good news item, despite the mayor's rather lacklustre presentation of the sale at council last Monday. It will open a lot of doors and provide some real economic and cultural incentives for local residents.
~~~~~
* Although he voted in favour of this purchase, the mayor (as a councillor) originally voted against the library in both its expansion and its new building.[/indent]
It's certainly a better use of your tax dollars than, say, wasting more than $400,000 on the mayor's fight against educational development charges, or the $250,000 the county will spend of your tax dollars (and which mayor supported in a closed-door meeting!) on a PR agent to make the county representatives (i.e. the mayor) look more electable next term.
The money for the purchase will come from the following sources:
- Investing In Ontario Funds $700,000 (a provincial grant)
- Reserves/Economic Development 355,000 (much better way to spend your tax money than, say on some pointless 'branding exercise')
- Tremont Proceeds 100,000 (money from the sale of the building)
- General Reserves – Administration 95,000
- General Reserves – Human Resources 75,000
- Cash-in-lieu of Parking Fees - 75,000
The reasons for the purchase are manifold.
First, we needed a building large enough to host a post-secondary institute. Georgian College is a good choice for this. It would allow them to consolidate their premises and expand their offerings to local residents. Lots of parking for students on the lot, too. An expanded Georgian College will offer greater educational opportunities for residents and employers, as well as creating new jobs. An expanded Georgian College will also offer residents educational opportunities to improve themselves and go on to better jobs.
Second, we need a public cultural space - a place where community groups, film clubs and theatre groups can afford to host events and activities. Right now these groups have to lease or rent space in private buildings and the cost is higher than they would like (or can afford). This will give them the space to offer a broader, fuller range of cultural activities.
It will give us a public space to hold presentations, lectures, conventions, workshops, etc. Right now we have a hard time attracting conventions or similar events because we have not had a space to host some of their needs. This will be an economic incentive for local resorts and hotels to bid on those events. That in turn will help the local economy and could even create jobs.
There are those on council who think the town should ignore culture - Councillor Mike Edwards voted against the motion, complaining that we needed a roof over our second ice surface first (he also voted against everything to do with the new library, too, for much the same reason). But while recreation and sports are important, culture has been deeply neglected here and many opportunities to create cultural tourism and culture-based jobs and recreation have been overlooked. This - along with the new library* - is a chance to redress that shortcoming.
We MUST offer a balance that provide both cultural and recreational opportunities and activities. This purchase will, I hope, fulfill the dreams of the "community centre" group that tried to get such a facility built more than a decade ago.
Consider the demographics of this community - grey power is growing. We have a greater-than-provincial-average number of seniors, many of whom are retired (and reasonably to very well off). This growing group also tends to come from outside (Toronto, mostly) and arrives with a heightened sense of culture and a willingness to spend money enjoying it. This group brings a demand for increased and improved cultural events and activities, including film and theatre.
One example of this is the local Cinema Club. A few years ago, it was the largest film society in Ontario, outside Toronto, and is still rated in the top five, with about 1,000 members. That's an important group in this community.
Collingwood could host a whole new category of events in this facility. Imagine Collingwood as a destination for concerts, film festivals, theatrical productions!
There are hundreds of local artists who have been looking for additional places to display and sell their works. Art is not merely decorative, it is an economic engine (including opportunities in cultural tourism). When local artists have places to display AND sell their work, they prosper. And the gallery space gets a portion of the income from sales.
So the purchase is a good news item, despite the mayor's rather lacklustre presentation of the sale at council last Monday. It will open a lot of doors and provide some real economic and cultural incentives for local residents.
~~~~~
* Although he voted in favour of this purchase, the mayor (as a councillor) originally voted against the library in both its expansion and its new building.[/indent]
