A vision for Guelph’s former drill hall to become a visual arts centre remains a possibility after city council voted against staff's recommendation to sell the property.
Staff recommended the property be sold because it would need $5 million worth of work to open it.
The city has already put in approximately $5 million since 2017 but it would need the extra $5 million to get it ready if it were to be leased out. Annually, maintenance, utilities and security for the building costs approximately $125,000.
The decision not to sell the building still needs to be ratified at a full council meeting later this month.
The recommendation is “based on the fact that we've exhausted any … financial viable way of owning this building ourselves. So I just want to let you know that this is not about not supporting the arts, you know, we do,” said Jayne Holmes, deputy CAO.
Council heard from a number of delegates Tuesday evening at a committee of the whole meeting and all liked the idea of an arts centre situated at 72 Farquhar St.
The Guelph Centre for Visual Arts (GCVA) is a local not-for-profit arts organization established last year to create an idea for the site to become an arts centre. The group gave council a proposal with an appendix and endorsements to state its case.
The centre could include studio spaces, art workshops and room for exhibitions.
“Our guiding principle is empowering sustainable artistic practice. Think of it like an artist incubator supporting creative entrepreneurs,” said Mike Salisbury, GCVA chair, in his delegation.
He acknowledged the vision for the centre is aspirational but it’s the direction he wants to go in. Salisbury wanted council to pause on selling the building so GCVA has a year’s worth of time to plan and see if the centre is feasible.
Delegate Ann Cavanaugh gave an analogy for Guelph as a cultural face. The head is represented by the library, ears as the music community and a mouth for live entertainment.
“But the eyes that represent the windows to the soul of visual arts in our city are not fixed in the centre of our cultural face, as one should expect. Instead, Guelph’s visual arts are represented by a situation akin to a number of eyes stuck all over the body,” said Cavanaugh.
She feels there is a lack of a central hub for visual arts downtown. The Art Gallery of Guelph at the University of Guelph she considers to be more exclusive to the university community.
The recommendation from city staff was the building at 72 Farquhar St. receive no further money towards it other than for maintenance and security. Staff recommended the property be sold. Council voted against the recommendation, aside from councillors Dan Gibson and Christine Billings. Coun. Ken Yee Chew was not at the meeting.
Coun. Leanne Caron put a motion on the table for the city to explore an agreement with GCVA to potentially lease the drill hall and for the organization to secure commitments for the resources needed to make the facility a community arts centre.
The motion had additional clauses with some added by other councillors. It included; the City of Guelph would continue to own the drill hall and fund to maintain the current state of it, the GCVA to create an equity and inclusion plan to address artists in the community, the GCVA be subjected to follow the city’s engagement principles in its planning before returning to council in 2025, and a staff report be given to council by the end of March next year.
The motion passed unanimously.
Mayor Cam Guthrie stressed the city does not have any money in the budget for something like this.
“But the idea to me is worth more than what the potential cost to actually rehabilitate this building is. I think it's worth more than that … for the community,” he said.
The last motion voted on was for staff to allocate $10,000 to the GCVA to pay for a feasibility study for the potential future use of the drill hall. It would come from unspent money in this year’s community investment strategy account.
It passed with all in favour other than Gibson and Billings.
Decisions around the potential future of the drill hall will likely be discussed and voted on at a council meeting on June 25.
