South end arts and community building should have been saved, groups say

With a large community space in Saint John's south end on its way to becoming 25 apartments, non-profit groups are angry at the loss of a cultural centre in a city with so few.

Julie Whitenect, the executive director of ArtsLink N.B., said the groups were shocked to learn last October that the old theatre building that housed several community organizations, including hers, was being sold.

ArtsLink, a non-profit that promotes arts in the province, was given only 60 days to vacate. 

Had they known sooner, Whitenect said, community groups and their members would have tried to save it.

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"It is possible that we could have helped, either through a purchase of the space or through financial planning with [the owner] or helping to raise money in the community," Whitenect said.

InterAction School for Performing Arts bought the building, at Germain and Queen streets in the Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area, in 2013. The former church became a space for several community organizations, including InterAction, Chroma N.B., ArtsLink N.B., and a studio called Monopolized Records.

The school sold the building to B.C. architect Bruce Wilkin last October for $150,000, about a quarter of its assessed value.

Earlier this month, city councillors approved first and second reading for Wilkin's application to rezone the site to allow residential use. The application needs a third reading before being fully approved. 

"If you wanted somewhere to host your own workshop, get married there, practise your dance performance — those kinds of spaces for the arts community to connect with each other and the public are very important," Whitenect said. "It's quite unfortunate that we no longer have that." 

She said the sale of the building takes a multifaceted cultural space away from a city already lacking in an "ecosystem" that supports and cultivates the arts.

"We don't have as many large institutions in Saint John, and we don't have large arts educational institutes based here either," Whitenect said.

This makes it difficult for the city to compete with Moncton, which has the Aberdeen Cultural Centre, or Fredericton, with the Charlotte Street Art Centre, she said. Both buildings have studios and rental spaces for other non-profits. 

The Saint John space is currently occupied by Chroma N.B., a non-profit that provides support and programs for 2SLGBTQ+ residents, and by InterAction, whose programming in a variety of performing arts is aimed at children and youth.

Both will be vacating by the end of the month. ArtsLink left after learning of the building's sale and is now on Prince William Street. 

Space should have been protected, Chroma says

Hadeel Ibrahim, Chroma N.B.'s executive director, said the city should have stepped in to save the building's zoning as a "neighbourhood community facility."

"We don't have a lot of space that is fully designated by the city and protected as community space … it's a big loss to have that protection possibly removed," she said.

At the meeting where council showed support for the new development, Wilkin said his zoning application included "community resources" as an exception to allow Chroma N.B. and InterAction continued use. 

But Ibrahim said this would have required her organization to move to another floor, into a space too small for the group's school lunch program for 2SLGBTQ+ youth, which serves about 20 people a day. Being on the third floor, Ibrahim said, would also have made the organization's office inaccessible.

Both groups decided to leave.

The City of Saint John and Wilkin declined to comment on the application.

Ibrahim said she is hoping to fill some of the void left by the loss of the theatre building with Chroma's new space on Carmarthen Street, which will have enough room for programming and for other groups that need event or program space.

But the small group can't meet the extensive needs of the community, Ibrahim said, and will be taking on higher rent and liability by opening the space up to other organizations that need it.

"For us, it is worth it to take on slightly more risk to have some community space that people can use for programming and services," she said.

Chroma's new space will also be in the city's south end, which Ibrahim said is important. The south end is one of Saint John's five "priority neighbourhoods" for its higher rates of poverty than other parts of the city. 

Only two councillors, Brent Harris and Gary Sullivan, voted against Wilkin's zoning application, saying the community space was a loss and could have been saved.

Coun. Joanna Killen, who favoured the rezoning the property to urban centre residential, praised Wilkin for rehabilitating the building. She said the city has other opportunities on the horizon and referred to the Saint John Theatre Company's courthouse project. 

InterAction representatives were not available for an interview. Sara Wilson, the president of the school's board, said in a statement that the group will reveal a new location later in June. 

"While we say goodbye to our former space, we know that a building doesn't define us," she said in the statement. "Our passion, creativity, and commitment to children's theatre will carry us forward."

Wilson said current board members joined in the spring and were not involved in the sale of the building.