Introducing The Odditorium
Magic is coming to former New Glasgow church as renovations begin
Anew tenant is setting up shop in a historic New Glasgow church. The new owners of the 19th Century Baptist church with stained windows, a century of character and a layout of twists and turns, hope to create a place for those looking for something a little different. They call it The Odditorium.
Wanda White and Asa Nodelman recently took possession of the building and have moved into the building on the corner of Forbes Street and James Street in New Glasgow.
In the coming months, they will be opening a tearoom, woodshop and circus all under the same roof.
“I want New Glasgow to continue to grow artistically. I want it to be bigger and better and I want to be able to be a part of that,” says White.
She aims for The Odditorium to have gallery space and a craft/sewing room, and to also hold unique events.
She wants more people to come up to the county and become part of the evergrowing art hub.
With The Odditorium she and Nodelman want the space to be open and safe for everyone, especially those who might feel uncomfortable, or feel they don’t fit in, in more traditional settings.
White is a performer and artist who also runs a tea business called Sense and SensibiliTea, which will be the main staple of The Odditorium's tearoom.
While she loves tea and loves the business, she says she never would have pictured running her own tea company.
It all started in Louisburg, Cape Breton.
At the time White was doing historical costuming and working with different museums, one being the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
For an event, a bunch of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic crew was asked to go to Louisburg and White was asked to join as the cook.
They were portraying people who smuggled things like tea and chocolate into Louisberg from England.
“I was like ‘wouldn’t it be cool if we actually like, since we are talking to the public if we actually had tea to sell, the right tea that would have been served during that time.’”
So she looked up some information, got some tea leaves, made up envelopes and sold them at the event, where they sold out. After this, another museum in Sherbrooke Village asked if she would come and sell tea and she sold out again.
“I was like maybe there is something about this so I started doing more research and starting making all different stuff and that’s the history of how I now sell tea,” she says.
Similarly, Nodelman did not set out to train in heritage carpentry.
He moved to Halifax from Winnipeg about eight years ago, looking for a change.
Within a year he fell onto hard times, and while his parents were visiting his mom suggested the heritage carpentry program at NSCC.
“You’ll like this, you like history and you like making things,” he says she told him.
After completing the program he worked a few odd jobs in the city before deciding to start his own business, but then the pandemic hit.
Nodelman says he struggled along that whole time, with White actually being one of his first clients.
This was not the first time they met though, they actually met at a steampunk-themed tea party that White was helping host for Accessible Media Inc.’s show Eyes for the Job.
“He showed up with a puppet and that is how we met,” says White, with Nodelman adding he was dressed in the same outfit as his puppet.
Nodelman incorporates puppetry into his circus work, as well as things like stage magic, rollerskating and juggling.
“I want to find and develop a circus community here,” he says.
He plans to introduce people to juggling and do some cool things with the community because while he loves to perform he also loves to teach.
On the performance side, he wants to put on large shows, taking advantage of The Odditorium’s stage and audience space.
His woodshop, which will also be used for his woodworking business, will allow him to create set pieces for his shows. In the short term, he and White have both applied for Art by Night. If accepted Nodelman will be showcasing magic tricks.
The tearoom, circus and woodshop, as well as the craft room, will all have their own distinct space, tied together with a planned red and gold theme. Despite having dabbled in steampunk design, White says when it comes to The Odditorium she doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed.
To follow along with the renovation of The Odditorium, people can find them on Facebook @TheOdditoriumChurch.
“I want New Glasgow to continue to grow artistically. I want it to be bigger and better and I want to be able to be a part of that.” Wanda White