Collingwood councillors have decided the show must go on without delay and that means an arts centre in spitting distance from Creative Simcoe Street, not a centre on the Spit.
A suggestion to explore adding an arts centre to the proposed Collingwood Terminals development project was shut down by a majority of council on Monday night.
The town’s consultant team charged with exploring the feasibility of an arts and culture centre in Collingwood delivered their latest findings to council’s corporate and communications committee on April 3, suggesting a 400-seat theatre be built and offering two site options for it.
A parking lot at 48 Ste Marie Street and the former Collingwood Terminals building were both floated as potential locations for a future arts centre by Giaimo, which was part of the consultant team with Nordicity. The consultant recommended more exploration into the Terminals site, which is currently part of a large development proposal by Streetcar and Dream Unlimited Corporation in partnership with the town for a condo tower, a hotel in the silos, and other recreational and commercial uses.
However, most of council and several local arts groups quickly played the terminals option off the stage.
“With respect, I’m not sure any of the consultants have travelled out to the Spit in the middle of Feburary,” said John Kirby, a resident and the board chair for the Collingwood Music Festival.
The Spit refers to Heritage Drive, which is a narrow piece of land and the only road jutting out into Georgian Bay along Collingwood harbour and to the Collingwood Terminals building and Millennium Park.
Rob Hart, chairperson of the Collingwood Art Culture Entertainment group (CACE), said he was worried that pursuing an arts centre at the Terminals site, where there is already a complex project contemplated, would delay the art centre further.
Marie Rounding, chair of the board for Theatre Collingwood, also urged council to pick the Ste. Marie Street location for expediency.
“The arts community, and residents, have been waiting for this arts and culture centre for a long time,” said Rounding.
The consultant’s presentation suggested both the Ste. Marie Street parking lot and Terminals site had a similar number of pros and cons.
“We didn’t find that one was more feasible than the other,” said Stephanie Mah, who was presenting for Giaimo. She recommended both be shared with the public for further feedback, and that the town spend another $15,000 to have the consultants suss out each of the sites more by speaking with Streetcar more about the potential to include an arts centre in their plan.
Mah said the Ste. Marie Street site would be good as an extension of the existing Simcoe Street community, and would be accessible by walking and transit, but it would remove parking.
The arts centre at the Terminals site would have the potential for an outdoor amphitheatre and “ample” opportunities for parking, but would be disconnected from downtown and would be a subsidiary of a larger development.
Coun. Brandon Houston said he was glad to see the arts and culture centre project reach the second phase of feasibility studies, but didn’t agree there were two equally viable site options.
“I feel like we already know … which one is the most appropriate,” he said, reiterating the concerns of driving the Spit in the winter, and also worries about “400 people leaving the theatre down a single road to one traffic light.”
He also said he was concerned about the people living there and staying in the hotel who would be impacted by the frequent entrance and exodus of crowds, but above those concerns were his beliefs about the best spot for an arts centre.
“Any arts centre needs close access to restaurants and retail,” said Houston. “In my opinion, that puts it downtown. I think it’s time to move on to phase three.”
Coun. Christopher Baines said he agreed with Houston, but regretted not being able to hear what Streetcar’s plan might be for an arts centre.
“I would like to hear that, I wouldn’t agree to spend $15,000 on it … but if they have a … concept … I would like to hear that before voting,” said Bains. “But I can’t see, at this point, a valid reason for putting it out by the terminals.”
Phase three is considered the design-build stage of the arts centre project, meaning the town’s team would start coming up with architectural drawings, a more detailed costing, plans for raising grants and funds to build the centre, and a parking plan.
Coun. Kathy Jeffery supported the idea of the Ste. Marie Street location, but lamented there wasn’t more information on the plan to pay for the building and the ongoing operation of the centre.
Dean Collver, director of parks, recreation, and culture said those details would come out in the next phase.
The committee was nearly unanimous in a vote to turn down the consultant recommendation to keep exploring the two options, opting instead to have staff come back “expediently” with a plan to move onto phase three for an arts centre at 48 Ste. Marie Street. Councillor Rob Ring was absent from the meeting so was not among the votes, and Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer said he was hung up on the parking issue.
“To me, parking is one of the major issues,” he said, acknowledging the comments from staff, consultants, and the mayor to indicate that parking plans would be part of the third phase. “I would have liked to see an awful lot more information about parking.”
Fryer said he was worried that moving onto phase three would prove “futile.”
He did, however, vote in favour of the council motion to hear more about starting phase three.
Based on the consultants’ work in phase one and two, the current estimated cost of building an arts and culture centre (on either site) is between $25 million and $34 million, but those costs don’t include soft costs such as the architectural designs, nor does it include furnishings and equipment, which Nordicity consultants suggested could add about 10 per cent to the overall cost. A parking structure, whether under or above ground, would also add to the cost, possibly about another $10 million, said Nordicity.
The arts centre is not anticipated to make a profit.
The annual operating budget is expected to run a deficit of around $250,000 and perhaps as much as $465,000 based on other arts centres currently operating in municipalities similar in size to Collingwood.
Nordicity co-CEO Peter Lyman said with a smaller theatre like the one proposed for Collingwood, the annual subsidy by the town to cover the deficit.
“I’d be wary of what the deficit will be,” said Lyman. “There will be one, but it will probably be containable.”
The consultant report also recommended the smaller of two options that were tabled in the first phase, suggesting a 400-seat theatre would be a better, lower-risk option for the town, and that the size was supported by the arts community groups consulted by Nordicity in the second phase of the feasibility study.
The decision still has to go to a full council meeting on April 17 for another vote before the 48 Ste. Marie Street location becomes the official preferred option.
The arts 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 consultants Nordicity Group Ltd. and Giaimo Architects. For a comprehensive timeline and both phase reports, visit the Engage Collingwood website here
UPDATE: At their April 17 meeting, council voted unanimously in favour of endorsing the Ste. Marie St. location and moving toward Phase 3 of the Arts Centre Feasibility study.
