St. Catharines Downtown Association

A group of local arts boosters is recommending the city start planning now so that the arts groups will have enough money, management savvy and customers to afford the high-priced rents when the new Niagara Centre for the Arts finally opens downtown.

Without the advance planning, arts groups won't be able to afford to use the new centre, wrote cultural planning supervisor Rebecca Cann in a report to council.

At Monday night's council meeting, St. Catharines councillors approved advice from Cann and the Niagara Centre for the Arts Task Force, who outlined five objectives and 16 strategies for nourishing local arts groups.

The amount of money it will cost and the timeline for implementation will now be developed with "cultural stakeholders," wrote Cann.

"A future arts centre needs local artists to create original onstage performances, encourage our youth and inspire emerging artists," said Pablo Felices-Luna, artistic director of Carousel Players and a member of the task force.

"Our local arts organizations need to grow before the new facility opens."

Please see full story by M. Bergsma in The St. Catharines Standard at: