New arts centre proposed
Tue, September 25, 2007
By JONATHAN SHER, SUN MEDIA
Londoners who want a performing arts centre will see their aspirations take centre stage tomorrow when politicians debate a massive undertaking whose price tag seems likely to top $60 million.
Though arts supporters have long pushed for a first-rate performance hall, this time they'll read from a somewhat different script, pointing to a city report that says 40-year-old Centennial Hall should be closed within a decade.
The acoustics in the hall are so bad music students at the University of Western Ontario go on field trips to other cities to hear themselves perform, wrote Novita, a Toronto-based theatre consulting firm.
Public spaces at the hall are "dated, dreary-looking and worn out," says the report, which will be presented to board of control tomorrow.
"Centennial Hall is such a poor facility and is so reluctantly used that it has only a ghostly presence in its market," Novita wrote.
But the price tag of a new facility, as outlined in the report, had many council members turning pale.
In the roughest of estimates -- Novita called its number speculative -- a performing arts centre seating 1,200 to 1,500 people and a second building to provide needed space for sets and rehearsals would cost $55 million.
That price doesn't include land that the city would have to purchase if it follows its consultant's advice to sell the Centennial Hall site and purchase a larger one closer to downtown restaurants.
And those costs pale next to an estimate done in 2004 by EllisDon Construction that presented two options at $97 million and $74 million.
Beyond the construction costs, the city would have to subsidize the operations of a new facility -- staff suggest it would cost as much as $2 million a year.
"I think it's going to be a tough sell to the general public," Controller Bud Polhill said last night, his observation repeated by others.
"There's a specific group of people who would frequent the place asking a whole lot of Londoners to carry the costs."
His comments provoked Controller Gord Hume, who has long advocated a performance centre.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Arts and culture cross every boundary and strata of our society. It's not elitist and we have to get rid of that notion," Hume said.
"This is another exciting step for London if we have the courage to take it."
In recommendations to board of control, the city finance boss Vic Cote doesn't openly support or oppose a new centre but does push to close Centennial Hall even faster than the consultant recommends -- by June 2016 rather than the end of 2017.
Cote also recommends the city should invest in new equipment in Centennial Hall but give priority to items that could "be moved to other buildings."
Though the city would seek funding partners in Ottawa and Queen's Park and donors locally, Cote suggests, that if the project goes forward, city taxpayers pick up the largest share of the cost -- between $35 million and $40 million plus land costs.
That seems too rich for councillors, even Hume, who says he'd want the city share to be about 25 per cent.
Though Hume is confident private donors will help, he believes the biggest challenge will be to get big bucks from the Ontario and federal governments.
Rumours were rampant last night at city hall of someone in the private sector prepared to make a "major" contribution, though how much or from whom was uncertain.
City hall faces an ongoing cash crunch brought on by debt used to finance major projects, such as the JLC, in the late 1990s and early 2000s .
THE PLAYBILL
THE CHARACTERS
- Centennial Hall is 40-years-old and was dated from the start, a consultant says, with barely a place for a show's orchestra, little space back stage, a lack of rehearsal areas, dreary and cramped public spaces and acoustics so bad that many dread performing there.
- A brand new performing arts centre that would be to music, dance and theatre what the John Labatt Centre is for hockey and big shows. With 1,200 to 1,500 seats, it would have less capacity than the relic it replaces but more than enough room to attract performers and land acts that now skip London, a consultant says. The recommendation is to build downtown near restaurants.
THE PLOT
After many years of pushing for a performing arts centre, supporters think the clicking clock on Centennial Hall -- a consultant says to close it in 10 years -- will clear the way. But their traditional foe, a high pricetag, has left many on council skeptical.
THE COST OF PRODUCTION
A consultant estimates -- roughly -- it might cost $55 million to build a new centre and a second building for rehearsals, storage and ancillary uses.
OPENING DATE
A consultant suggests by the end of 2017.
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