Ancaster Arts Centre campaign sets sights on $3M goal

The Ancaster Arts Centre’s fundraising drive is about to crack the $2-million ceiling.

Organizers are now focused on meeting their goal of raising the community’s $3-million share of the cost of the facility by the end of the year. Colin Lapsley, the art centre’s executive director, said fundraising for the project is over the $1.98 million mark and is expected to pass $2 million soon.

“We’re aiming for $3 million by the end of the year.”

Lapsley said organizers have also applied to a major federal fund and are in the early stages of assessment for the federal government’s share of the $12-million cost of the facility.

Earlier this summer, Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas MP Filomena Tassi encouraged the art centre’s organizers to apply to the federal government’s Canada 150 funding program that has about $168 million available for cultural and heritage infrastructure projects over the next two years.

Tassi has said that building the Ancaster Arts Centre is a top priority and she is confident federal funding can be acquired. “We are working on it.” Funding the centre is a multilevel process that involves the municipal, provincial and federal governments, and the community. The city has already contributed nearly $3 million for the project.

Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson said he has received some “good vibes” from the province as it studies providing its cost share.

The preliminary cost to transform the 70-year-old former Memorial Elementary School is estimated to be about $6.93 million. Demolishing half the structure is identified at about $5.2 million.

Ferguson said the design by the Hamilton architectural firm Invizij is nearly complete. It includes a 450-seat theatre, a gallery, multiple small rooms along with a European piazza, and a one-way entrance from Wilson Street.

The city has hired a consulting firm to conduct a stage-three archeological assessment on the former Memorial School property to review locations that may be of cultural heritage value or interest. The result of the assessment will determine if there is any further work to be done on the property.