Posted Jun 4, 2008, 7:13 PM
|
|
Registered User
|
|
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 362
|
|
!!! Finally it looks like one of the best projects and towers will come to life in Ottawa. This as well should ad a substantial amount of new/young $$$ wealth to the Elgin st area.
Elgin Street concert hall campaign revived
Steven Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, June 04, 2008
OTTAWA - Supporters of a concert hall on Elgin Street have revived plans for the project and expect to announce details soon of a community fundraising campaign backed by arts groups from across the city, politicians and some high-profile members of the community.
Organizers say they're still working out some crucial details, but they are tentatively planning an announcement June 16 that will include details of the fundraising campaign and will let supporters of the project know how they can get involved as donors or volunteers.
Referred to as the Friends of the Concert Hall, the new committee is taking over from the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, which spearheaded the fundraising and planning for more than four years but pulled out in February.
The proposed 925-seat concert hall, at Elgin and Gloucester streets, would present a wide range of music, including jazz, blues, folk, classical performances and youth ensembles. The hall could also be used for readings, film screenings, meetings and music recordings. It would be part of an office and residential complex to be built by Morguard Developments, which still supports the project, organizers say.
The Chamber Society also still supports the hall, but withdrew as campaign leader when it announced it had been unable to meet city council's deadline to find a title sponsor.
Under the original plans, a title sponsor was to contribute in the range of $6 million to have its name on the hall. Chamber Society officials said some corporations had expressed potential interest, but were unable to commit by the end of February. It had only been since November, when the federal government announced its support, that organizers were able to approach sponsors with the backing of three levels of government.
Once it had found a title sponsor, the Chamber Society also planned an $8-million community fundraising campaign. Chamber Society officials said professional fundraising consultants had always advised the organization to turn to the community only after the other major pieces were solid.
The hall has a budget of about $33 million. When the Chamber Society pulled out, the project had about $25.4 million in place, including $20.6 million in government pledges, $1 million in private pledges and a $3.8-million contribution in construction costs from Morguard.
After the Chamber Society withdrew and city councillors agreed to keep the funds set aside for a cultural facility, supporters, including representatives from some of the more than 30 Ottawa arts groups that say they would present performances in the hall, have been planning strategy.
Ottawa cellist Julian Armour, who initially planned the project when he was artistic director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, has rejoined the campaign.
See hall on page F4Julian Armour quit the Chamber Society early last year over differences with the board, and had not been involved with the concert hall project since then. Organizers asked him to get involved again after the Chamber Society withdrew.
Armour says the main goal of the June 16 press conference "is to announce that it's back in business, the door is open, and to let people know how they can get involved as donors, committee members or volunteers. We will have people there who have been wanting to make it happen before and people who are newly involved. The campaign really is representative of the whole community."
Arts groups and city staff have long said an acoustically pristine medium-sized hall is an urgent priority for area arts groups. The National Arts Centre's 2,000-seat Southam Hall is larger than most Ottawa groups need, it is rarely available and the cost of renting it is beyond the reach of most Ottawa organizations.
The Ottawa Jazz Festival has said it has missed out on presenting some star musicians because there was no suitable venue available. City churches are heavily booked for concerts.
When the Chamber Society pulled out, some city councillors said it was time to give up on the project. But major cultural projects of this kind usually take several attempts.
It took more than a decade for the Great Canadian Theatre Co. to move out of its former cramped quarters to its new building on Wellington Street, and it took more than 10 years of lobbying by Toronto conductor Richard Bradshaw before the Canadian Opera Company had a new home. The new opera house opened to rave reviews and sold-out houses. The GCTC has also played to capacity houses since opening its new home last fall.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
|
Prev
We need a few cold pints on a patio for more of these.
Linear Mode
