A chorus of voices spoke almost unanimously in support of bringing an arts and culture centre to Collingwood’s downtown this week.
During their committee of the whole meeting on July 8, councillors received a report on Phase 3 of the business case for an arts centre in town, completed by Colliers Project Leaders who were procured by the town last year at an estimated cost of $200,000. Councillors gave initial approval to spending $40,000 more to expand on the work, and voted to hold off on making any final decisions on the project until the town’s downtown visioning exercise is completed.
But that didn’t stop arts lovers from coming before councillors to express the need for such a facility in Collingwood.
“It occurs to me that there is enough private money in the town these days to build this two or three times over without any public money,” said John MacMurchy. “There’s a lot of value here and we should take the long view.”
Ten residents spoke about the report during public comments. Sheri Weldon, a Collingwood musician, said she was excited to see the project move forward.
“As somebody who grew up in a wonderful sports town, as a child who was artistic and musical, there was not a lot for me and others like me,” she said. “It’s so important to me to see something go in both for exposure for youth and a place where they can perform.”
Based on the report, Colliers is recommending building a facility to include a 600-seat main hall, 300-seat recital hall, multi-purpose rooms and administrative space. They recommend any facility should also have outdoor gathering spaces, catering facilities, and parking.
There are two options Colliers is recommending when it comes to location of the facility: Option 1 is a standalone building at 101 Pine Street totalling 107,974 square feet, while Option 2, totalling 128,522 square feet, combines the standalone building at 101 Pine Street with a secondary building at 84 Hurontario Street connected by a “skywalk” bridge. The secondary building would provide frontage on the main street and accommodate “community hub” programming including a gallery, restaurant, and tourism centre.
The two options also come with cost estimates, which for Option 1 comes in at $61.6 million, and Option 2 coming in at $72.8 million. Underground parking would add another $18.9 million to either option.
The arts and culture centre is not anticipated to make a profit. The town would have to budget for yearly operating costs.
Based on estimates explored through the report, potential funding through other levels of government and grants could account for between $40 million and $46 million of the cost, while donations raised through the community are expected to come in at $10 million. The town would be responsible to address any funding shortfall, which is expected to be between $10 million and $16 million, not including the parking options.
Developer Thom Vincent spoke in support of the report’s recommendations.
“The numbers seem to be ultra conservative,” he said. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity for us. There’s some fine-tuning.”
Vincent noted a performing arts centre would attract people from all over Ontario and beyond.
“This is not a project just for Collingwood. This is a project for the region. It’s a tremendous opportunity,” he said.
John Kirby spoke about his family’s deep roots in Collingwood.
“My only hope is before any decision is made...that everybody has a chance to go through the report and analyze it. I don’t think it’s perfect...there are so many variables. We need to answer some of these important questions,” said Kirby.
One resident raised concerns about the parking issue in Collingwood’s downtown, and how she felt the proposal would only exacerbate the issue.
“I think Pine St. is a very poor selection,” said Judy Shepherd. “There are only three (downtown) parking lots in Collingwood. They are used continuously and are really important for our town.”
“I’m very much in favour of an arts and culture centre, but I think the site is a very poor choice,” she said.
As part of the meeting on Monday, Mayor Yvonne Hamlin noted that discussions are continuing with the Simcoe County District School Board to possibly partner on the project, as the board has eyes on prioritizing a Collingwood Collegiate Institute replacement school in the near future and is looking for collaborations with other agencies to do so.
“My dream is that the school board would contribute to the operating cost. It could be a win-win,” said Hamlin, also mentioning that the town should explore requesting the County of Simcoe making a capital contribution to the project.
“This will be an economic benefit to the county and tourism,” she said.
The arts and culture centre feasibility process was first approved by council in December 2019 as part of the 2020 budget. Since then, there have been two phases, led by Nordicity as well as Giaimo Architects.
As part of discussion on Monday, Dean Plater of Collier Project Leaders noted that there are many other steps and avenues investigated before any project should be approved.
“If the project is green-lit, there’s an enormous amount of work to work out those finer details,” he said.
At the end of discussion, council voted 8-1 in favour of referring the issue to the downtown visioning exercise currently underway, and to give $40,000 more to Collier to further the scope of the work. Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer was opposed. Any decision made during committee of the whole needs to be ratified at the next council meeting before going into effect.
To read the full Phase 3 arts centre feasibility study report, click here.
