YARMOUTH, N.S. – At the entrance of the former Arcadia school property is a sign that reads: “New! Th’YARC. Coming soon.”
The Yarmouth Arts Regional Council now owns the building and property after a motion was approved at the Municipality of Yarmouth’s March 28 council meeting agreeing to the terms of the purchase sale agreement.
Originally the plan had been to renovate and expand Th’YARC property on Parade Street, but now the intention is to convert the former school in Arcadia into an arts/theatre and community centre.
Asked how soon is “soon” as indicated on the sign, Mitch Bonnar, president of Th’YARC, said, “As soon as possible.”
There is no funding currently in place for the project. Bonnar said funding will be sought at the federal, provincial and municipal levels and fundraising campaigns will be planned. Asked what the budget of the project will be, Bonnar guesses it will be in the area of $8 million.
“We have to, obviously, acquire funding and those kinds of things, but we can now make the plans and apply for funding,” he said, suggesting that while theatre space is awhile down the road, with some work and modifications they can start using other parts of the building even before the entire project is completed.
Support has been sought from the town over the years for a YARC project on Parade Street, but several town councils have indicated that a downtown location was the preferred and recommended choice for an arts centre.
In recent months the town and firms it has hired have been carrying out public consultation on different phases of its arts centre proposal for the Collins Street parking lot location. Design workshops have been held and now the conversation is turning to governance of the proposed centre.
Governance has been a sticking point for the folks at Th’YARC, with concerns raised that within a town-owned facility the organization would be nothing more than a tenant. The town has extended an invitation to Th’YARC to participate in this phase of the consultation.
A governance workshop is scheduled for April 10. A public participation meeting will be held April 17.
MUNICIPAL COUNCIL SAYS AGREEMENT A GOOD THING
At the Yarmouth municipal council meeting last week there was no specific mention of Th’YARC by councillors when the purchase agreement was approved. The municipality is happy not to be saddled with the maintenance and upkeep of the former school that was reverted back to it by the Tri-County Regional School Board. The municipality hasn’t been in possession of the building for long. The Nova Scotia Health Authority had used the property for an extended period after a December 2016 flood at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
“I’m in agreement with the motion,” said Yarmouth Municipal Councillor Trevor Cunningham at the March 28 meeting. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to put that property into the hands of an organization that wants to develop it and it does serve to take that off of the municipal taxpayers’ hands in terms of maintaining and supporting the building and heating it.”
In a later interview, Warden Leland Anthony said the agreement is beneficial to the municipality and residents. He said the municipality isn’t looking to get in the middle of plans for a new YARC building and the town’s plans for an arts centre, adding it’s a shame the two sides haven’t reached mutual agreement about an arts centre.
Asked if there had been much interest in the former Arcadia school, Warden Anthony said three RFP packages were taken out but the one concerning Th’YARC was the only one that came back.
TH'YARC PLANS
Bonnar said the former Arcadia school provides them with a layout that is close enough to what was originally planned so “we can utilize the same plans that we paid big money for 10 years ago, with modifications of course.”
He said the intention is to build two theatres: a 450-seat sloped theatre and a 200-seat flat floor multi-use/theatre space.
The town’s plan for a new arts centre also includes a larger and smaller theatre.
Bonnar said the Arcadia site allows for plenty of parking and the existing nature trail will continue to be accessible to the public.
“What we’re doing here is not just building a theatre and arts centre, we’re building a community centre and we want people there,” he said, adding that, in addition to space for arts and culture groups and users, there will be designated space for other community uses.
Arcadia Consolidated School first opened its doors to students in 1958. It was closed in June 2016 by the Tri-County Regional School Board.
“We’ll re-face the entire thing. My plan is to get some of the windows out, put new siding on it, re-do the roof. We’ve inspected the building,” he said.
Bonnar said the age of the facility is not a concern and said what is most attractive about the building is the space is offers.
