Art gallery to give update on building project
The Vancouver Art Gallery will make a major announcement this morning about its new $350-million building.
For more than a year, the gallery has been working on raising $100 million from private sources for its new home on the empty lot across from the Queen Elizabeth Theatre at West Georgia and Cambie streets.
The VAG already has a design for the building by the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron.
The event at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia will include gallery director Kathleen Bartels, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart and Christine Binswanger, the architect in charge of the project for Herzog & de Meuron.
As of last July, the VAG said it had commitments of $43 million from private sources.
Lisa Beare, the minister of tourism, arts and culture, has said the province would commit another $50 million once progress had been made on “raising private funds in support of the project.”
In 2008, the provincial government contributed $50 million to the VAG for the new building.
Two years ago, the $350-million price tag was divided between $300 million in construction costs and $50 million for an endowment. That figure compares to $514 million the province spent on a new roof for B.C. Place Stadium.
The city has already contributed the land at 688 Cambie St. on a 99-year lease.