From academic hub to not-for-profit hub
Edmonton’s MacEwan University West campus will soon be known as The Orange Hub — unless a corporation steps up soon to buy the name and help the new not-forprofit tenants pay the bills.
The city gets possession of the currents arts campus at the end of September when MacEwan University moves its arts students downtown. Officials are in the final stages of signing leases with 27 different not-for-profit organizations to share the campus. They’ll eventually run the facility on their own through a shared governance model.
City officials at council’s community services committee Monday said 49 not-for-profit organizations applied, asking for double the amount of space available. The city will release the list of successful applicants once contracts are signed in September.
The total includes 14 arts and heritage organizations, three education-focused groups, two focused on community development, one on sports and seven on wellness. A consortium of three arts groups wants to run the small black box theatre but no one has stepped up yet for the main theatre.
The new name raised eyebrows on council.
“Most of our buildings are identified by location, not by colour,” said Ward 2 Coun. Bev Esslinger, questioning the name picked by Edmonton’s naming committee. It refers to the orange panels that cover almost the entire facade.
But Ward 1 Coun. Andrew Knack assured his colleagues that’s exactly how the building is known throughout the west end. He said he hopes any corporation that steps forward to buy naming rights will include the words Orange Hub when they add their own branding.