By Cheryl Jahn

Community Arts Council closer to a new home

Oct 14, 2020 | 2:32 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Community Arts Council has called Studio 2880 home for years. But those buildings were built in 1942, making them a couple of the oldest civic structures in town.

The Art Council’s hope has been to find a new home for years. Now, a location has been found on Third Avenue, where the Farmers’ Market currently lives. And, with Council’s approval recently, that looks more promising than ever.

“This is the first major cultural infrastructure plan for the city of Prince George for at least twenty years,” says Sean Farrell, Executive Director for the Arts Council. “So there’s a whole generation now that hasn’t seen anything new in arts and culture as far as a major facility.”

With Council’s approval, the City is no applying for money under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. If successful, the federal and provincial governments would cover two-thirds of the funding. The remaining $1.5 million is the City’s obligation. But it will be covered by the Northern capital Planning Reserve Fund, announced in the spring of 2019. It means the local taxpayer is off the hook.

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“This once in a lifetime funding opportunity came along for national funding in arts and culture infrastructure. It was the perfect time because this project is literally going to have no leaning on local taxpayer dollars,” says Farrell.

Applications for this kind of funding generally takes a year to process, but the Manager of Infrastructure Projects for the City says both the federal and provincial governments are keen to get infrastructure projects to work to stimulate the economy in light of the pandemic.

“Once we hear back on a successful grant application, which we’re very hopeful for, we would start the detailed design once we hear,” explains Tiina Schaeffer. “We anticipated that would be in 2021. And then into construction in 2022 and 2023. if we can do it sooner, we’ll sure try.”