The future of a permanent arts hub in downtown Victoria could be decided at this week's committee of the whole meeting.
The Other Guise Theatre Society says the council members will make a "very important decision" on Thursday, Jan. 16 when council members will decide whether or not to provide a grant to fund an arts hub at 716 Johnson St., with funding being allocated from the Major Community Initiatives and Events Grant.
“We are asking the City of Victoria to help provide certainty in uncertain times. This venue is a legacy project that will pay it forward in terms of fostering arts and culture in the city for decades to come,” noted Matthew Payne, executive director of the society, in a news release. “It’s a quality of life decision and a resilience decision. If we cut the things that make downtown a vibrant, interesting, viable place, we have so much further to go to bring them back later.”
In time, the building is expected to become a hub for performing arts where new work would be developed and performed, emerging artists could work alongside longtime professionals and small and medium-size productions could be presented year-round.
It would also be a hub for education with drama camps, workshops and other educational opportunities, and would be available for community events such as fundraisers and concerts.
Current BC Assessment figures show the property is valued at $1.9 million, a value exceeding the mortgages on the property according to the society. Options proposed by staff include the grant being given with conditions or in the form of a forgivable loan which would ensure that if the hub was not realized, and the property was sold, the full investment would be returned to the city.
“Our plan is to have the venue running by the end of March. Our architect is actively working with the city’s planning and development department to rezone so we can host events there. We have a long-term plan to be a black box theatre but plans to start utilizing the building are not on hold,” noted Payne in the release. “We want this to be available as a community resource as soon as possible.”
