Survey marks first step for new arts hub in downtown St. Catharines
New creative space aims to gather several arts organizations under one roof
The St. Catharines arts community is gathering feedback for a potential creative hub downtown.
Niagara Artists Centre (NAC) and Carousel Players have commissioned a study to evaluate the needs and interest in a multi-purpose space, similar to the culture hub The Exchange under construction in Niagara Falls.
But unlike the Falls space, NAC director Stephen Remus sees the St. Catharines venue as the permanent home for several non-profit arts groups in the city. It was a concept originally planned for Firstontario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) but was dropped due to cost overruns.
“We’re trying to fill that gap, so we can make fantastic productions here and present them at the PAC,” says Remus.
“There’s also a tremendous opportunity here for economies. You have arts groups who’ve been moving around, some of them for half a century.”
Research on a potential hub began in late 2019 but was derailed during the first few months of the pandemic in 2020. It’s now moving forward by asking visual artists, media artists, theatre artists, musicians and creators of all kinds to fill out a survey available at www.nac.org. The survey closes Jan. 31.
Among other things, the survey will gauge interest in a shared space for visual artists, a music rehearsal space and a recording studio.
“Yes, it’s for artists, but it’s to serve the public,” says Remus. “We’re serving the arts groups (and) individual artists and those artists can be from the general public.”
Carousel Players general manager Kate Leathers says her company has spent years rehearsing in one space, teaching in another, with offices in a third. A hub offers an opportunity for several St. Catharines arts groups to thrive under one roof.
“I see it making such a positive impact on the artists of St. Catharines and on the vibrancy of the downtown core.”
Both NAC and Carousel Players are two of the longest-running professional arts organizations in Niagara.
Remus says a site next to the NAC building on St. Paul Street has been pegged for the project.
He expects a feasibility study to be completed by the end of winter, at which time public and private investors will be sought.
The long-gestating $15.2-million culture hub in Niagara Falls, which will also be the site of the new farmers market, started construction in December behind Niagara Falls History Museum at Sylvia Place. It is expected to open in 2022.