Yarmouth wants an arts centre in downtown, and that makes one arts group unhappy

Town council in Yarmouth, N.S., is moving ahead with a downtown location for a new arts and culture centre, but a local arts group isn't giving the decision a standing ovation.

At the Sept. 21 council meeting, council approved a site on the block bounded by First, Second, Collins and Alma streets. The parking lot has been identified as the preferred location by two different consultants.

Mayor Pam Mood said the spot would have the biggest economic impact for the town.

"You land something like this and all of a sudden you need more places to eat and more places to shop and all those pieces," she said.

Mood said if everything goes according to plan, the centre could open in two years.

'Basically disband'

However, a report prepared by town staff notes: "This location is the most politically contentious possibility, as it has been the target of critics of the project in the past."

One critic is Mitch Bonnar, the president of Th'YARC Playhouse and Arts Centre, which has long been looking to tear down its existing arts facility on Parade Street and rebuild.

"Not only do they want us to move downtown," Bonnar said of the town, "they want to own it, they want to build it, they want to construct it, they want to operate it, they want the current theatre to basically disband."

It's not yet clear how much the town's arts centre will cost, but money will likely come from the three levels of government and a capital campaign.

Mood said the town wants ownership of the building because of the millions of dollars of taxpayers' money that will be invested in it. She said the governance structure hasn't been decided on yet.

Bonnar said even if Th'YARC decided to stay put in its current location, it's not feasible to have two performing arts theatres in the town. That's forcing the group's hand.

"They're being bullies," he said of the town.

The distance between the two sites is about a kilometre.

Mood called the allegations of bullying "highly unfair" and said that given the project could involve potentially millions of dollars of taxpayers' money, the location decision has to be made in the interests of the broader community.

She said the argument of bullying could also be made for Th'YARC officials.

"We feel like we could possibly be bullied into making it land on a location that isn't going to have the most economic impact for the area," said Mood.

On Oct. 10, officials from MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited will be coming to Yarmouth to do an engagement session with the public.

"This really is a good-news story. We just have to get by these bits of push back and in the end we'll have a beautiful state-of-the-art, world-class arts and culture facility," said Mood.

"This is a win-win for the entire region."