After my blog posting from the weekend I decided to take a few days off from writing and reflect a bit on the news of the past week for your humble scribe. If you missed that posting, you can scroll down below this post and read all about it.
I must admit I have been touched greatly by the words of support and encouragement; it is wonderful to know so many people are willing to reach out and be there when you really need them. I have been up and down this week emotionally, with an occasional panic attack such as the one I experienced earlier this evening. But overall, I am doing my very best to accept my present situation and move on with as much grace and equanimity as I can muster.
So thanks again for the kind words everyone and I will keep you posted on any future developments.
Now, it was back to the arts beat today with some very good news in downtown St. Catharines regarding the new Performing Arts Centre. Over the summer months, looking at the PAC-cam set up on the site you can view on the City of St. Catharines website (www.stcatharines.ca) there didn't appear to be much going on at the corner of St. Paul and Carlisle. All that changed recently with the digging of the foundation starting to get underway with a flourish.
Now, we can see a crane on sight, just one of many soon to spring up over the downtown skyline as the Performing Arts Centre, the adjacent Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts at Brock University, and down the street the new spectator facility all begin to take shape. There is activity in and out of the PAC site on a daily basis now, and that is encouraging to see.
Today, dignitaries and just plain folk such as myself gathered on a grassy spot under a big tent just across the street from the site of the new development to celebrate the pouring of the first concrete for the foundation. It is at that point you realize this is actually happening and there is certainly no turning back now. Nothing like a little perseverance on the part of our city fathers and provincial & federal elected officials, eh?
Peter Partridge, the centre's fundraising cabinet chairman, emcee'd the event and welcomed MPP Jim Bradley, MP Rick Dykstra and Mayor Brian McMullan all to say a few words on behalf of their respective governments in support of the project, now expected to be completed in the fall of 2015. But it was left to Greg Wight, president of Algoma Central Corporation to make the big announcement today; Algoma is the first corporate donor in the $5 million fundraising campaign. The obligatory big cheque was presented to the audience in the amount of $250,000 on behalf of the 2,000 employees of Algoma Corporation.
This wonderfully generous gift not only gets the ball rolling, but also allows Algoma naming rights to the centre's main lobby area. It will now be known as the Algoma Central Corporation Community Lobby. Other naming opportunities will no doubt be pursued as the project continues; now the lobby and the main hall (Partridge Hall) have both been spoken for.
A nice gesture as part of the event this morning was the ability for all of us in attendance to "make our mark" as it were, in the newly-poured cornerstones of the centre. For my part, I simply wrote my initials with the year below with my index finger. Others got far more creative, but I just couldn't come up with anything else worthy of posterity.
The hope is, of course, we will all "make our marks" in a financial sense by giving to the fundraising campaign as the construction continues. This will be a test of the community support for the project to be sure, but everyone - myself included - remain optimistic the community will put their money where their hearts lie and financially support the PAC.
When it is completed, the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre will house four performance spaces ranging from a 775-seat concert hall (Partridge Hall) to the 187-seat film theatre. In between there is the 300-seat recital hall and a 210-seat theatre/dance space.
Now, let's wash that new concrete off our hands and fingers, roll up our sleeves and get on with constructing this showpiece for the arts in Niagara!
August 15th, 2013.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment