On with the show, says Th'YARC

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Members of Th'YARC's board say the curtain is about to fall on discussion about the location of a new arts centre.

During an interview with The Vanguard, Jonathan Kini, the board's vice-president, said they believe they now have the support needed to move forward and begin the planning process for development on their Parade Street site.

"I think location is not an issue," said Kini.

The idea of where a new arts centre should be has been a polarizing topic for close to two years, with members of Th'YARC's board and a large group of supporters favouring the present location while others, including some members of Yarmouth's town council, members of the community and the Yarmouth Development Corporation (YDC) believing it should go in the downtown area.

Kini said the debate sparked by the subject of location was not unexpected, but he believes they are ready to move on.

A stumbling block for Th'YARC for some time has been the perception that town council does not support their plans to build on Parade Street. At a recent meeting of the town's finance committee, where the subject of location came up, a vote to endorse the plans to build at the Parade Street site with unconditional support was defeated in a 3-3 tie. However, a second motion, this one to send a letter of conditional support to the group, passed with only one councillor voting against it.

Board members have long said they have the support of provincial and federal partners in the project, but without the written support at the municipal level it would be too difficult to move ahead.

The municipalities of Argyle and Yarmouth councils had already voiced support for the project. Support was also high at a public meeting on the matter last May. A vocal crowd of supporters turned out to the Wesleyan Church while members of the YDC and downtown committee were notably absent. The few who were present did not voice an opinion on the matter.

But the YDC is continuing to pursue the matter. They have a luncheon scheduled for Sept. 24 to discuss the subject of location for a new arts centre. Featured speakers at the meeting will be Bernie Smith, manager of the Spring Garden Road Association in Halifax, and Brian Arnott, a specialist in development, design and management of theatres and cultural facilities.

Kini, who plans to attend the meeting, said the move by the YDC and the opinions of councillors who oppose the Parade Street location are prolonging a process they've tried for some time to resolve. He said members of Th'YARC's board have asked both groups for some time to provide alternative site suggestions and, to this point, they've come back with nothing.

"We've been in very open dialogue with who we felt were all interested parties," Kini said. "We understand maybe their intent of putting an arts facility downtown, but we've asked them to show us locations so that we could assess it against criteria that we determined through a feasibility study and business plan . . . Our criteria were based on surveys, feedback directly from our own members, from the attending public to our shows and input from the town . . . As of this date we have never been shown a location nor has there been any indication that one might exist."

To continue dwelling on the issue, said Kini, would be to further delay the process and deny the town a facility it needs. Th'YARC did, at one point, consider the Beacon Church site, which is for sale, but it was determined that site wouldn't work.

As for the YDC's meeting next week, when asked if there was anything he might hear that could change his view about the location, Kini said a piece of property is the only thing. And that, as Kini points out, is not something the YDC or either of the guest speakers can provide.

Finding a spot to locate an arts centre in the downtown is indeed a challenge. There are no obvious places given that Th'YARC's plans call for a 24,000-square foot, single level facility. However, as councillor Clifford Hood is on record as stating, it would have been unimaginable at one point to suggest the new justice centre could fit in the south end of Yarmouth. Through expropriation it was able to happen. The same, Hood argues, could be done for an arts centre downtown.

But Kini said the board isn't interested in going the route of expropriation because of the time factor it adds to the project as well as the potential ill will it could create with anyone who might lose their property. There is also a concern of ownership. Since it first opened, Th'YARC has operated at an arm's length from the town. There is some concern amongst board members that relocating in the downtown could result in the town trying to take a greater role in the operation of the facility, a concern that does not exist with the two acres of land Th'YARC owns on Parade Street.

One of the biggest selling points of the Parade Street site is the ability for on-site parking, said Kini. The existing parking lot will be expanded when the new building is complete and the existing building is demolished. It's a feature, he said, that any other site would be hard pressed to match. And given that one of their biggest demographics is seniors, it's a feature they must have.

So where do things stand in terms of planning?

At this point, said Kini, there are no plans or blueprints or anything else beyond conceptual drawings of what could be possible for the Parade Street site. Kini said the board's first responsibility was to ensure support at all levels of government. Now that they have that, he said, the group's next move is to start to secure funding from various levels of government and formulate a budget plan. It is estimated that those applications and the subsequent responses will take up to a year to complete.

Once they have an idea of what kind of financial support they'll receive from government, the group will be able to move to the development stage and issue requests for proposals. The hope, optimistic or otherwise, is that the construction phase will be complete in 2012. Kini said they expect the project to cost $8 million.

It's a lot of money and it will require a lot of community support to reach that total. Adding to that challenge is the fact that the YMCA, now many steps ahead of Th'YARC in terms of progress towards a new facility, will soon be in the community asking for support. It goes without saying, then, that it behooves Th'YARC to ensure they have overall community support.

So do they?

Kini says they do. There is a fine balance between meeting the needs of the arts community in Yarmouth and the community of Yarmouth in general. But Kini said this isn't a case of what's best for Th'YARC versus what's best for Yarmouth as a whole. The community extends beyond the downtown and waterfront, he said, and as such the concept of redevelopment should extend to parts of town beyond those two locations. With plans to at some point extend Clements Avenue to Starrs Road, Kini said a new arts centre could be a centrepiece to helping redevelop that part of town.

Beyond that idea, Kini said he does not believe locating the facility in the downtown is the key to turning that area around, adding that he doesn't believe the local business community is willing to adjust their practices were the arts centre to be downtown.

"I don't believe that the local business community is prepared to stay open past their closing times and spend the overhead just so they hope that some of our clientele meander from a performance to go have a cup of coffee or (something to eat) or go to a bar."

Kini said they talked with business operators in the downtown and this was the message they received.

So if this is the case, why then has the subject caused such uproar?

Mike Carter, a member of the board and a business operator on Main Street, said he believes it is simply a matter of timing and the circumstances the town finds itself in at this point.

"Things are a bit uncertain, I think, in the downtown area," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen in terms of tourism or where the boat is going to be . . . I think as soon as the idea gets brought up that maybe this thing can be something that's going to rejuvenate or be the catalyst to make things better downtown, it gives something for people to talk about.

"I don't know if an arts centre in the downtown is the saviour to some of the concerns we have about downtown and where we're going in the future."