Arts complex inches forward
Edmonton city councillors Monday approved in principle the city’s contribution to a $900-million downtown arts project.
The plan to build four theatres, an office tower and an open air galleria is being driven by local philanthropists and developers who have created a not-for profit foundation to build and run the project. The foundation, not the city, will take out a $700-million loan to cover the bulk of the construction. The 30-year loan will be paid with lease dollars from the University of Alberta and office tenants.
Under the funding formula given initial approval Monday, the city will be responsible for about 10 per cent of the project costs, including two pieces of downtown land, a contribution to the $35-million galleria roof and up to $11 million for an underground pedestrian connection to the Churchill LRT station.
The plan is scheduled to come to the city council July 3 for further debate.
The galleria project would allow the university to move its arts, music and one other yetto-be determined department downtown, bringing 5,000 staff and students into the centre of the city. The four theatres would be located north of 104th Avenue behind the new Royal Alberta Museum.
It’s being called a P4 project, a private-public partnership with a $100-million philanthropic component.
The group hopes to start building by the middle of next year with some U of A spaces open by mid-2015.
The city’s portion will include transferring land the Reuse Centre currently sits on at 101st Street and 104th Avenue. That’s a building the city was looking to vacate. It would also close and donate 104th Avenue, a short service road that runs between 101st Street and 100th Street just in front of the CN Tower.
The city is also negotiating with the Edmonton public school board to arrange a land swap for it school board maintenance building, which is located near where the theatres are proposed.
The next steps are to finalize the lease agreement with the U of A and consult with neighbours living and working near the project. The university spaces will be designed first, followed by the office spaces and the open-air galleria, a public square with a clear roof.
When the mortgage is paid off, any profits from the project will go into a cultural trust to be reinvested to continue to support other arts projects downtown.
“The key is right here. That board is going to take out a mortgage for $700 million, pay for it out of leases, pay the operating costs and pay into the cultural trust,” said Coun. Bryan Anderson.
Mayor Stephen Mandel called it “brilliant.”
“We’re considering a small amount of investment, a couple pieces of land that we don’t use much anyway,” Mandel said.
“We’ve got to applaud the team that’s putting it together. They are going to raise $100 million and have found a creative way to make it work without using taxpayers dollars, which is pretty nice for a change.
“You take a new museum, galleria, arts centre and university campus, and beside that is the new arena,” he added. “The city is going to change dramatically.”