Opposition in the form of a letter-writing campaign reached council this week as 16 downtown business and property owners let their government know they were against using the downtown Pine St. parking lot for a future arts centre.
While the arts and culture centre is still in the visioning stage and a site hasn't been chosen, a recent feasibility study report identified a potential site in 101 Pine Street, a parking lot on the corner of Pine and Second used seasonally for the Collingwood Farmers' Market. The report also suggested using the parkette space at 84 Hurontario Street, which backs onto 101 Pine Street, to extend the arts and culture centre and give it frontage on Hurontario Street.
Andrew Conway, owner of 78 Hurontario St. has been a vocal supporter of the parkette at 84 Hurontario, and was one of the people who sent a letter to council.
When reached for comment on Wednesday, Conway said he wrote the letter after speaking with his neighbours and finding out he’s not the only one with concerns about bringing an arts centre to Pine St.
“I own a heritage building. Whether I own it or not, it’s a part of the town and has been for 150 years,” said Conway. “It’s right next to the site so I have concerns about my 150-year-old building next to underground parking getting into the bedrock.”
Conway has worked for the past year with a small group of volunteers to convince the town to turn its lot at 84 Hurontario St. into a public park, and he worries putting the arts centre there will extinguish that possibility.
“The other sites (proposed) would benefit more from such an investment,” said Conway.
The 16 letters, which were part of the Sept. 9 council agenda, are mostly the same with a few variations.
“We support the art centre project in principle, however WE COLLECTIVELY AND UNIFORMLY OPPOSE THE PINE STREET LOCATION,” reads the letters.
Letters were signed by:
- Richard and Anke Lex, owners of the Tremont heritage properties,
- Sarah Harrison, owner of Coriander Style & Life,
- Michael Christie, owner of Christie’s,
- Darrell Mussell, owner of The Huron Club,
- Bill Vomvolakis, owner of 71, 91 and 93 Hurontario St.,
- Linda Sloat, owner of The Curly Willow,
- Scott Irvine, owner of Dags & Willow,
- Dr. Sam Goodman,
- Dr. John Miller, owner of the Trott block,
- Deb Edgar, owner of Pine Villa,
- Susan Garbe, owner of Tesoro Mercato,
- Paul Shaw, owner of Schoolhouse Lane,
- Dr. Alan and Peggy Kemp, and
- Andrew Conway, owner of 78 Hurontario St.
CollingwoodToday reached out to all but one of the signatories, and those who did respond said they had no comment.
There's a long history of attempts to bring an arts and culture centre to Collingwood.
Most recently, over the past five years, the town has worked with consultants through various phases of a feasibility study to hone in on an appropriate location, cost estimates and size.
In July, consultant Colliers Project Leaders came to council with Phase 3 of the study, suggesting 101 Pine St. was the best location, suggesting a 600-seat main hall, 300-seat recital hall, multi-purpose rooms and administrative space. They recommended any facility should also have outdoor gathering spaces, catering facilities, and parking.
Cost estimates currently range between $61.6 million and $72.8 million for the project, with underground parking expected to cost an additional $18.9 million on top of that.
In the most recent development on the project, council voted at the end of July to spend $40,000 more with Colliers Project Leaders to hone in on the cost estimates, and to defer further decisions on the matter until the town’s downtown visioning master plan is completed.
Also in July, chair of the Collingwood Downtown BIA Sarah Pennal wrote a letter to council asking the town to reconsider the Pine St. location and instead revert to an earlier part of the feasibility study that recommended 48 Ste. Marie St. as the best location, while noting that BIA input was not included in the feasibility study.
Based on Colliers’ findings from the Phase 3 business case, the 48 Ste. Marie St. lot was determined to be too constrained by size and bordering buildings, whereas 101 Pine Street offers greater flexibility in terms of height, layout, orientation, and future expansion possibilities.
During Monday’s council meeting this week, Hamlin provided her perspective on the situation.
“Over the course of the next few weeks, I will pop in to various businesses to just find out what’s on their minds,” she said.
Hamlin said she stopped in at one already that she did not name, and claims the business owner told her they were not opposed to an arts centre on Pine Street.
“It didn’t have anything to do with the location, although that’s what the letter says. It had more to do with the priority of that project among other projects she thought were important,” said Hamlin.
The mayor said there would be many more discussions to come on the issue before any final decisions are made. She clarified during the Sept. 9 meeting that no groups have been consulted with at this point.
“There’s lots of opportunity for consultation coming. No one should feel like this is a done deal,” she said.
