Delta will have a new civic amenity in a few months.
Acting city manager Ken Kuntz last week said the city is “getting closer” to the completion of the North Delta Centre for the Arts, which should be open sometime in the spring of 2019.
Located adjacent to the North Delta Recreation Centre, the 84th Avenue venue is replacing the old Firehall Centre for the Arts which was demolished.
The new facility will have 11,000 square feet of space and is estimated to cost $7.7 million. The two-storey facility will include a 100-plus retractable seat theatre with a large foyer and concession space, multiple music and meeting rooms.
The new arts centre will be able to accommodate public meetings and have a more formalized space for council meetings. Currently, every few weeks, council meetings in North Delta are held at the Kennedy Seniors Centre.
Mayor George Harvie at last week’s council meeting pointed out their meeting schedule for next year “shows respect for North Delta” by having every other meeting held in the community.
In large part Delta is paying for the arts centre with money from a land deal with a developer. The developer purchased a portion of the North Delta Recreation Centre property to consolidate it with another property to build over 100 condo and townhouse units. That land sale was subject to approval of the housing development. Construction of those units is also well underway.
The land deal doesn’t entirely cover the cost of the new arts venue, so Delta is putting up $3.1 million.
