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e’ve got an arts centre in an old church, an art gallery in an old library and another arts centre in an old fire hall. We’re also moving the museum from one old municipal hall to another old municipal hall.
I guess there are two ways to look at such arrangements: either Delta is very good at repurposing buildings or it’s lagging behind in constructing purpose-built facilities for our arts and culture community.
Should you take the latter view, you’ll be heartened by news that a $7.7-million arts centre is in the works for North Delta, an 11,000-square-foot facility that will come complete with a theatre, music rooms and more. It will be built adjacent to the North Delta Recreation Centre after Delta struck a deal with a developer to sell the property that housed the Firehall Centre for the Arts to make way for a multi-family housing development.
You’ve got to give those over at city hall marks for ingenuity as they’ll manage to have an arts centre built without incurring any debt, which has most definitely become a four-letter word under Mayor Lois Jackson’s leadership. To be fair, Delta has done a masterful job of paying down the municipal debt, to the point where it will be virtually eliminated when Jackson retires next fall, but, as I’ve lamented before, the decision not to borrow limits what can be accomplished.
Delta has built artificial turf fields, bought an ice rink and upgraded recreation centres in recent years, but the arts and culture community hasn’t had as much love. Money is finally being spent to relocate the museum after years, even decades, of non-action on the file, but other groups and facilities haven’t been as lucky.
As much as there’s a history of turning old buildings into something new, dating back to the 1950s when a community group transformed an old hangar at Boundary Bay Airport into an ice rink, there’s something to be said for new, purpose-built spaces.
In a year or so North Deltans will be able to enjoy a new arts centre, which is likely to make those in South Delta both envious and keen to see something similar constructed in this part of the city, although, as usual, finding the money to do so will be an issue.
Did someone say casino revenues?
