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Inside of Kincardine Arts Centre in dire need of improvements, say tenants By Liz Dadson |
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 The Kincardine Arts Centre in downtown Kincardine saw its exterior refurbished in 2011 photo by Jacqueline Faubert | |||||
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All they want for Christmas is to work in a building that is safe and not an environmental hazard to everyone inside it. That's the wish of the tenants at the Kincardine Arts Centre. About 25 people came to Kincardine council Wednesday night (Dec. 14), appropriately dressed in Christmas hats, to plead their case.
Marilyn Clarke (L) and Bonnie Bryan, representing the tenants of the Kincardine Arts Centre, make their presentation Marilyn Clarke of the Bluewater Summer Playhouse and Bonnie Bryan of the Kincardine Theatre Guild, representing the tenants, outlined the problems with the interior of the structure and asked council to at least fix up the basic infrastructure and make the building safe for them to do their business. Besides the two theatre groups, the arts centre is home to the Kincardine Scottish Festival and Highland Games, the Victoria Art Gallery, the Scougall Gallery, and the Grey Bruce Woodturners Guild. "We are more than just tenants," said Clarke. "We are partners for success, and we are an important economic asset in this community." The group believes that a revitalized, renovated arts centre could be the crown jewel in the community. The tenants are responsible for bringing in thousands of people to downtown Kincardine, Clarke said. These visitors stay in our accommodations, eat in our restaurants, and shop in our stores. "We are the tenants," she said. "We live in the house and we know what it needs. We are proposing a three-year plan to address the integrity and maintenance of this valuable community asset." The major infrastructure improvements must be done in year one (2012), said Bryan. These include roof repairs and replacement. "There is no point in investing in the building's interior until the leaks are permanently sealed. Both the former fire bays have serious water problems. The main roof should be inspected and replaced, if necessary." The heating, cooling and ventilation systems must be fixed, Bryan said. The boiler is more than 40 years old. Replacement parts are obsolete. "An energy-efficient heating system, with central air, is recommended," she said. "The basement air quality poses a risk for allergy sufferers. Large theatre casts and crews spend four to five hours in the costume and make-up areas of the basement during a performance night. An air-exchanger is essential." The building also needs a complete re-wiring, said Bryan. Year two would include health, safety and aesthetics:
Year three would be the completion of the interior and exterior, with regular lighting inside, and heritage lighting outside, said Bryan. "We are committed to improving the arts centre and have demonstrated this," said Clarke, noting the following:
Clarke urged council to consider adding the Year One infrastructure improvements to the 2012 budget. "Let's finish the job and realize our full potential," she said. "As a member of the Kincardine Theatre Guild, I'll tell you that the state of the basement is abysmal," said councillor Ron Coristine. "I agree we need to upgrade and fix it up, but we don't want to break the bank or the back of the taxpayer doing it." He said he is almost afraid to find out what it would cost to rewire that building, but agreed council needs to find out that information. "I support the plan," said councillor Jacqueline Faubert, who was also wearing a Christmas hat. "Culture, arts and heritage are the richest assets in a community under 15,000 people, and we are fortunate to be blessed with so many volunteers in that sector." She said the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture has contacted her in reference to Kincardine's proposed Municipal Culture, Heritage, and Arts Plan and is prepared to help in any way it can. "Is
there a place in the current budget of 2012 to discuss this plan?" she
asked. "Is there any reserve for this type of project?" "Yes, there is," said councillor Maureen Couture. "We've invested a lot of money to fix up the outside of this building. The inside definitely needs to be fixed up too. We have $600,000 in a reserve for the arts centre. That money should go into the 2012 budget to fix up the interior of this structure." Councillor Kenneth Craig, who is policy chairman for this department, suggested putting out tenders or Requests for Proposals to find out how to manage this building. "It's a heritage building," he said. "We need expertise to deal with it. There is money available for this project. There's no sense in having a beautiful exterior but the people can't breathe inside. We should include it in next year's budget." "We need to give this careful thought," said deputy mayor Anne Eadie. "I have allergies and when we toured that building, I realized I wouldn't last long down in that basement. We have to be creative in how we spend the money if we want to meet everybody's needs." She suggested fix everything but the basement and use the old W.E. Thompson Public School, east of Victoria Park, for the theatre productions.
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 Kincardine councillor Jacqueline Faubert wears a dancing snowman hat in support of the Kincardine Arts Centre tenants' presentation at the council meeting Wednesday night  Public areas in the arts centre need to be repaired and upgraded photo by Jacqueline Faubert  The carpeting in the main floor is soiled and in pieces photo by Jacqueline Faubert "I'm afraid the arts centre basement will turn into a 'money pit'," she said. "The building is getting crowded and there's no room for expansion of the art gallery or the groups that use it." "I'm glad you're just brainstorming with that idea," said Faubert. "The tenants take pride in ownership of the building they're in now (arts centre). The electrical and heating systems in the basement need to be addressed. They're asking for pre-budget approval to get the process started right away." "We'll be in budget talks in two meetings," said mayor Larry Kraemer. "This likely doesn't need pre-budget approval." "We are responsible to protect the tenants in our building," said councillor Candy Hewitt. "Given these conditions, we have to start looking at where our responsibility lies with fixing up this building. I'd like to see the cost of the whole project then start to work on the phases by priority. It does have the potential to become a 'money pit'." "We're already committed to the first step because we've already fixed up the outside of the building," said Faubert. "Consider this Step 1A." Kraemer said the old W.E. Thompson school is dedicated to another use for the next nine years (Bruce Power Training Centre). He added that if the municipality uses up the arts centre reserve for this project, it will have to come up with some way to support the arts community because the interest on that reserve money was used for the upkeep of the building. Craig said council needs a plan for the building to determine what should be done and move ahead with the work. "Could we contact the architect (The Ventin Group which did the exterior of the building) and get advice on how to proceed?" asked Couture. Bryan said The Ventin Group did examine the entire building and sent a report to community services co-ordinator Steve Murray. Council agreed to have staff bring that report forward with a recommendation on how to proceed with the work that needs to be done on the interior of the arts centre. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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