Tories kick in $ 1 million for ‘ flagship’ arts incubator
A future arts and cultural hub at the former King Edward School in Calgary’s southwest received a $ 1- million injection from the provincial government.
Tory cabinet ministers continued their post- budget tour of the province Thursday, stopping in the city to announce money for flood projects, supports for francophone students and the cSpace arts incubator in Marda Loop.
“It is our flagship project, one of many I hope to build in the future,” said Reid Henry, president and CEO of cSpace.
“It will become a hub for Calgary’s culture and creative sector and a treasured gathering place for the local community.”
The one- hectare site includes the 45,000- square- foot historic sandstone school ( which closed in 2000 because of declining student enrolment), as well as a new modern wing that will ultimately house performance space, galleries and community hubs.
The province has now contributed $ 4.5 million toward the project, which has now reached 80 per cent of its $ 29.5- million funding target, Henry said.
The announcement was attended by Culture and Tourism Minister Maureen Kubinec and Education Minister Gordon Dirks, who represents Calgary- Elbow, where the facility resides.
Dirks said the facility, slated to open in 2016, would be home to some of “the most artistic businesses and highly marketable artists in Calgary and right across Canada.”
The recent spate of funding announcements comes on the heels of a poorly received provincial budget — with an array of service cuts and tax increases — and two new polls showing the Tories now in a dead heat, provincially, with the Wildrose and behind the NDP in Edmonton.
Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark called Thursday’s announcement for cSpace a “$ 1 million pre- election photo op” for Dirks. Clark lost the byelection race in Calgary- Elbow last October to Dirks.
“I look at these sorts of announcements and say, ‘ This is the job of the provincial government to do these things,’” Clark said. “It’s nothing remarkable. Important, but it certainly feels like electioneering.”